YuGiOh! 5D's: Stardust Accelerator
by EagleTsubasa
Summary: My version of Stardust Accelerator. A young girl finds herself in an ally in the middle of Satellite with no memories of her past. After meeting Yusei and his friends and a series of shocking revelations, is Hikari really the person that she thought she was? Why is she wanted by the Arcadia Movement and who is this mysterious man who claims to be her brother? Yusei/OC. T for blood.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Story Begins

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Stardust Accelerator._

_Me: This is my first Yu-Gi-Oh! story! Yay! I always wanted to attempt my own version of Stardust Accelerator. It's gonna be a lot different than the original._

_Crow: You do realise that you're gonna have to write duels now, right?_

_Me: Not for a while and it can't be that hard._

_Yusei: Yea. She has time._

_Crow: But she still has to figure out how the Blackwings work!_

_Me: I'll figure it out! Please enjoy the story!_

Where am I? How did I get here and why do I hurt so much? Is this a puddle I'm in, or is it blood? I opened my eyes to find that I'm in an ally. I tried to sit up and found that I'm only lying in a puddle. Thank goodness for that.

"Hey, miss! Are you alright?" a small male voice came from behind me. I turned around to see a small… is that a boy or a girl? Nevertheless, I responded to the gender confused… thing.

"Yea. I think I'm alright." I replied picking myself up. I brushed off some dirt. I found that I was wearing a black sleeveless shirt with blue jeans that were both made for a girl of course. Not the sort of ragged thing that the he/she was wearing. And looked at the… well… let's just say 'boy' for now.

"Are you sure?" he asked again, looking rather concerned for some reason.

"Yes. I'm sure." I responded smiling.

"Well… If you're sure… My name's Rally by the way. What's your name?" he asked curiously. Suddenly, I froze. Why couldn't I remember my name? On the other hand, now I knew that he was a dude. "Why are you taking so long?" he asked.

"I-I can't remember!" I stammered. The boys' eyes widened in shock. Then he noticed a Duel Disk on my arm.

"Hey! You're a duelist! Maybe you'll remember something if you duel with me!" he suggested excitedly. I scratched my head.

"Well… I suppose I have no other options…" I admitted. Honestly, I was rather excited about dueling the kid.

"Great! Just wait here while I get my deck and my Disk!" he exclaimed excitedly before running off. I sat down on a box and waited for the gender confused boy to return. I looked through my deck while he was gone. Hmm… Light monsters… Nothing special… except maybe… that card… I pulled a synchro monster from my special deck. It was a dragon. Just looking at it, I knew it was special. Suddenly, Rally returned with an idiotic smile on his face looking very excited.

"Alright! Let's duel!" he yelled readying his Duel Disk. I put my deck back into my Disk and pulled it up in front of me.

"Duel!" we both yelled simultaneously.

**(Rally: 4000****,**** ?: 4000)**

"Ladies first!" said Rally.

"My pleasure! I draw!" I drew a card. "I summon Kaiser Sea Horse in Attack Mode!" I yelled placing a card on my Duel Disk. A tall monster wearing blue and purple armour rose onto the field. "Next I place two cards face down. Your move." Two cards appeared face down on the field.

"I draw!" Rally yelled as he drew a card. "I summon Card Trooper in Defence Mode! Now I activate its special ability allowing me to discard the first 3 cards from the top of my deck. Now my Card Trooper gains 1500 Attack Points raising it from 400 to 1900! Now, take out her Kaiser Sea Horse!"

"Not so fast! I activate the trap cards Negate Attack and Solar Ray! Negate Attack prevents your monster from attacking and ends the Battle Phase while Solar Ray inflicts 600 points of damage for every Light Attribute monster on my field!" Rally's Battle Phase immediately ended.

"Argh!" he grunted as a ray of light hit him in the chest causing his Life Points to drop. "That's not gonna stop me! I place one card face down! Your move!"

**(Rally: 3400, ?: 4000)**

"Draw! I summon Gellenduo in Attack Mode!" Two small pink and green monsters with rings of light around their waists appeared on the field. "Now I attack your Card Trooper with my Kaiser Sea Horse! Go, Tidal Surge!" Kaiser Sea Horse raised his hand and sent a huge gush of water at Card Trooper which was swept into a building and exploded. Rally took 1700 points of damage.

**(Rally: 2100, ?: 4000)**

"Now, Gellenduo! Attack with Light Ring!" I yelled as the rings around the two monster expanded, began spinning and struck Rally causing him to fall to his knees in pain. I place one card face down. Your move."

**(Rally: 400, ?: 4000)**

Rally drew a card without saying anything. "I place one card down." he said as a card appeared face down in his Spell and Trap Card Zone. Your move."

**(Rally: 400, ?: 4000)**

"Alright, let's finish this!" I yelled as I drew a card. "Attack, Kaiser Sea Horse!" Kaiser Sea Horse attacked him with Tidal Surge and Rally's Life Points plummeted to zero.

**(Rally: 0, ?: 4000)**

_That wasn't hard _I thought as Rally sighed in annoyance at his defeat. Then he perked up.

"So, did you remember anything?" he asked hopefully. Suddenly, a sharp pain ran through my head and for a moment it felt like it was going to explode. Then, it just suddenly stopped.

"I-I think my name is… Hikari…" I stammered.

"Hikari, huh? That's a pretty name!" he said happily.

"Thank you for helping me remember it." I smiled happily at him.

"Say, do you have anywhere to go?" I stopped smiling. I didn't have anywhere to go.

"Uh…"

"You can come and stay with me and my friends!" he yelled excitedly.

"Are you sure they wouldn't mind?

"Of course not! I'll come with you and explain everything to them." I smiled at him.

"Thanks Rally." I said and we both walked out of the ally talking excitedly about our duel.

_Me: The storyline changes next!_

_Rally: That duel sucked!_

_Me: Not if you play epic music to it! Please R&R!_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Meeting the Guys

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Stardust Accelerator._

_Me: Now the Plot Line will probably differ from the original._

_Crow: It's about time!_

_Jack: I, Jack Atlas, am tired of waiting! When am I going to be in this?_

_Me: When I put you in! Please enjoy the story!_

We were going to head straight over to the subway that Rally was talking about. He said that places to live were hard to come by and that this was where he and his friends lived. Just as we got out of the ally, some random thug came up to us. He was wearing a camouflage shirt that he had ripped the sleeves off of, torn black jeans and dyed green hair that looked like it could puncture the tyre of a car.

"Hey! Shrimp!" he yelled at Rally. Rally looked startled and looked at the man. "You ripped me off! You told me that those Cards were rare and powerful! They aren't worth squat!"

"That's a lie!" yelled Rally. "You must not be using them properly!" The thug had enough. No one spoke to him that way about his dueling skills and got away with it. He walked up to Rally, ready to punch him, but for some reason I stepped defensively in front of my new friend, preventing the man from coming any closer.

"If you want to get to Rally, you're going to have to get through me!" I yelled. He looked surprised for a moment, but then he simply laughed and advanced. I closed my eyes, waiting for the punch to hit me, but it never came. Instead I heard a noise like something hitting the ground and a grunt. I opened my eyes to see a tall man wearing a blue coat and jeans with orange knee, shoulder and elbow pads. He had spikey black hair with yellow highlights running through it and startling blue eyes. He had punched the man to the floor before he got to me and Rally. Rally peeked around my waist to see what happened and the moment he saw the man he looked very excited.

"Yusei!" he yelled and ran around me to hug his friend. Yusei looked down at the boy and then looked up at me and smiled. It was a small smile, but a smile nonetheless. I smiled back. He got free of the thirteen year old boy and walked over to me.

"Thanks for helping Rally. The name's Yusei Fudo, by the way." he said.

"My name's Hikari and it wasn't a problem. He'd have probably done the same thing." I smiled.

"I haven't seen you around here. What part of Satellite are you from?" he asked curiously.

"Um… Well…" I stammered.

"Actually," began Rally "she doesn't know. She has amnesia." Suddenly, Yusei looked at me, a look of both seriousness and concern.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

"No. I think I'm fine but thanks for asking." I smiled at him. The look of worry vanished from his face and he sighed in relief.

"Hey, Yusei? She doesn't have anywhere to go. Can she stay with us?" asked Rally. Before I could make it clear that I wasn't the one who asked, Yusei replied.

"Of course she can!" he said almost immediately after Rally spoke. I simply smiled and looked at my feet.

"Thanks Yusei." I said, looking up for a few seconds before looking back down at my feet. Why was I blushing? Did I like Yusei? NO WAY! I just met him! Then what was this fluttering feeling in my stomach? All these thoughts were pushed away when Yusei put a caring hand on my shoulder and we walked towards the subway. When we got there we were greeted by three men. One of them was thin with blue hair. His name was Nervin. Then there was the tall, thin one wearing a bandana. He was called Blitz. And then there was Tank. He was short and fat. Blitz and Nervin were a little sceptical of me at first but when Yusei told them that he trusted me, they seemed to trust me too. We explained that I had amnesia and, like Yusei, they all appeared worried until I told them that I was fine. After that, they welcomed me with open arms.

**The Next Day…**

Rally and I were down by the docks. Well… Yusei was here too but he had to go to see about something. He didn't tell us what it was but he told us to stay here. He didn't trust Rally on his own anymore, let alone with me. This place was full of thugs, I couldn't fight and I would probably get lost. While we were waiting for him to come out, the thug from yesterday appeared.

"Hey! You two! I'm gonna get back at you for what happened yesterday!" he yelled in rage.

"Excuse me, but WE aren't the people who punched your lights out." I replied a little too smugly for my own good. I really gotta stop doing that. Well… I haven't done it to anyone yet but I've thought about it when Blitz, Nervin and Tank wouldn't stop asking me questions about me of which I did not know the answer to.

"Well, I'm bored so I think I'll just get you two. Anyway, I still wanna get the runt and you got in my way so you'll do well enough. And anyway, I wasn't ready last time." he smirked.

"Well, are you ready now?" a voice from behind him said.

"Well, yea. I suppose so." he said turning round only to be punched to the ground just like last time. When he fell over we saw that a very bored Yusei was standing behind him.

"Oooh… Nice uppercut!" I exclaimed. Yusei smiled slightly.

"Thank you." he replied with a slight happy tone in his voice. I giggled and Rally laughed slightly as he walked over to us.

"Where were you?" asked Rally.

"Shopping for Duel Runner parts." he replied simply. How did we not notice the shopping bag he was carrying?

"Makes sense." I said. Yusei was always working on his Duel Runner from what I could tell. He appeared to have built it himself out of spare parts. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

"Why don't we just duel this guy when he looks for us?" I asked as we turned to walk back to the hideout.

Yusei shrugged his shoulders. "It's quicker this way." he replied.

"I still don't see why we have to hurt him. Am I being too pacifistic?"

"You either beat them up or they beat you up. That's the way it is in Satellite." said Yusei.

"Why can't everyone just get along?" I moaned. Stupid question. The answer was all around me. No one had anything to call their own. Only muggers and thieves got far here. Yusei and his friends were just the lucky ones who didn't have to resort to violence and theft. Rally and Yusei looked at me as if I had three heads. "What?" I asked stupidly. Yusei and Rally tried to stop themselves from laughing at my stupidity but I saw this and pouted miserably.

"You'll learn to get used to it Hikari." said Rally.

"Hey! You!" yelled a familiar voice that made us all groan.

"Listen, can I just duel him?" I asked. I was pretty fed up.

"Yea, whatever." said Yusei shrugging.

I turned around and raised my Duel Disk. The thug saw that I was ready and raised his Duel Disk, smirking. Yusei and Rally backed up to give us room.

"Don't worry! This guy can't duel!" yelled Rally.

"I've gathered that!" I yelled back, smiling at him.

"Shut up and duel me!" the thug yelled in irritation. I smirked at his enthusiasm.

"Duel!" we both yelled.

_Me: From now on the thugs' name will be Bob._

_Crow: Why Bob?_

_Me: It was the first name that came to mind._

_Crow: So, your character dueling next?_

_Me: Yep, and she's going to be less Mary-Sueish._

_Jack: Better be._

_Me: Oh, who asked you?_

_Jack: *Deeply shocked and hurt*_

_Me: Please R&R! I need inspiration__ from your reviews!_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Enter – Light End

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Stardust Accelerator._

_Leo: So-_

_Me: No spoilers!_

_Crow: But-_

_Me: No!_

_Jack: Don't-_

_Me: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! And for the record, the thugs' name is now Bob. Please enjoy the story!_

"Duel!" we yelled.

**(Bob: 4000, Hikari: 4000)**

"I'll start! Draw!" yelled Bob as he drew a card. "I summon Familiar-Possessed Aussa!" he yelled as a brown haired female spellcaster with a staff and wearing glasses appeared on the field. A small winged beaver-like creature floated beside her. "Turn end!"

Wow… Powerful card… Maybe I underestimated this guy… Oh well… A strong card does not make a duelist powerful."I draw." Keeping a straight face while facing a monster with 1850 Attack Points is tough. I like to unnerve the enemy. Bob was in for the duel of his life.

"First of all, I activate Luminous Spark!" I said as a compartment on my Duel Disk opened and I placed a card inside. Suddenly, a blinding light shone all around us. Bob, Yusei and Rally shielded their faces while I stood there smiling. "Now I summon Apocatequil!" A small wooden tiki-like creature rose onto the field and pointed his staff at Aussa. "And thinks to my field spell, I can increase all Light monsters' Attack Points by 500!" My monsters' 1800 Attack Points shot up to 2300.

"Now, attack!" I yelled as my little monsters' staff charged up with electricity before it shot at Aussa. She let out a shrill cry and exploded in a flash of light. Bob took a step back. I could see him sweating and started to smirk. "Turn end."

**(Bob: 3550, Hikari: 4000)**

Bob, who was still slightly dazzled by my field spell, blindly drew a card. Suddenly, he smirked. It was my turn to sweat.

"I activate Smashing Ground! This card allows me to destroy the monster on the field with the highest Defence!" he yelled as my monster disintegrated in a flash of light. "Now I summon Gigantes!" A giant red ogre with a log in one hand appeared on the field.

"Attack!" he yelled. I shielded my face with my arms as it ran towards me. It hit me over the head with its log and I fell to the ground as my Life Points plummeted.

"Hikari!" yelled Rally and Yusei as I pulled myself together and got up.

"Not doing that again, that's for sure…" I said as I stood up.

"Turn end." he said with a smirk on his face.

**(Bob: 3550, Hikari: 2100)**

"Draw!" I yelled as I drew a card. I looked at it and suddenly a plan hatched in my mind. There was no way he could beat this.

"I activate Soul Exchange! This card allows me to sacrifice one of your monsters so I can Tribute Summon one of mine! I sacrifice your Gigantes to Special Summon my Arknight Parshath!" A knight in blue armour with shimmering white wings, long blonde hair and the body of a white horse galloped onto the field and pawed at the ground with one hoof.

"Attack his Life Points directly!" I yelled. Parshath raised his giant shimmering sword and galloped straight at him. He fell to his kneed as the holographic sword pierced his stomach without drawing blood. "Turn end."

**(Bob: 1650, Hikari: 2100)**

"I draw!" he yelled, drawing a card. I could tell he was having none of this. Why you ask? One, he was yelling, two, his face was turning red and three, a blood vessel in his head popped. Pretty hard to miss.

"I summon Earth Effigy in Defence Mode! There's no way you'll get past 2000 Defence Points!" he cackled as a sphere-like piece of rock appeared. "Turn end!"

"I draw!" I yelled. If I was going to win this I would have to draw that one card. As I turned the card over I was relieved to see the monster that I needed was now in my hand.

"I summon Chaos-End Master in Attack Mode!" As I slid the card into my Duel Disk, a young man with white hair, white and gold clothes and shining white wings appeared on the field.

"Tuner monster?" exclaimed Bob. Rally was looking on excitedly and Yusei was showing mild interest. He was about to become even more interested.

"Now, I tune my Arknight Parshath with my Chaos-End Master!" Rings of green light appeared and Chaos-End Master became tiny shimmering stars. Parshath went into the tunnel of rings and the stars surrounded him, making him transparent.

"When the light appears, no darkness shall escape! The light will herald the end of chaos!" A long, slender, shimmering dragon with four shining white wings appeared in a flash of dazzling light.

"Sychro summon! Dispel the darkness! Light End Dragon!" The dragon roared, dispelling the light around it and shaking the ground of Satellite to the core. Yusei, as I predicted, was looking a little more interested in my monster. In fact, he couldn't take his eyes off it. For a few moments, Bob looked a little scared but then he quickly regained his composure and laughed.

"Nice monster! But, unless it has a piercing effect it won't get to my Life Points!" he cackled.

"Don't be so sure!" I said as I pulled a spell card out of my hand. "I activate Fissure! This card allows me to destroy the monster on the field with the lowest Attack Points!" As I said this, a fissure in the ground opened up causing his Earth Effigy to fall into it. There was an explosion from the space in the ground and the crack disappeared. He gasped as he saw his monster being swallowed up by the ground and fall into the depths of Satellite, sealing his fate.

"Now, Light End attacks you directly! Light Stream!" I smiled, pointing at him. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, unable to look at the beam of light coming towards him. The light enveloped him and his Life Points plummeted to 0.

**(Bob: 0, Hikari: 2100)**

_Me: Oh! Oh! Clue next time! CLUE!_

_Crow: Clue to what?_

_Me: Clue to my characters' identity!_

_Hikari: It's about time! What was I like?_

_Me: No spoilers! Please R&R!_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Clue to the Past and… a Glimpse… of What is to Happen… Yea… (I Think That's Right…)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Stardust Accelerator._

_Hikari: Is this where we find out my identity?_

_Me: Only a clue as to what it is._

_Jack: So, I get to duel soon?_

_Me: You'll duel when I say you can duel!_

_Hikari: Should we just start the story before he whines again?_

_Me: Yea. Please enjoy the story (and the clue)!_

Bob fell to his knees and punched the ground in annoyance and disbelief.

"That's game! Let's duel again sometime!" I said. _Wow… Where did that come from…? It just felt so familiar and right…_ Before I could think about this anymore Rally came up from behind me and started yelling praise at me. He was saying everything so quickly that I couldn't make out a word that he was saying so I just smiled and nodded as Yusei walked past me to the defeated Duelist. Upon seeing him, Bob ran for his life as he was afraid of getting beaten again. Yusei shook his head and walked back to me.

"Nice duel." he said smiling slightly. I smiled back. _Oh no. Here comes that feeling again. I DO NOT LOVE YUSEI! _I shook all those thoughts away and pulled my deck out of my duel disk and put it in my deck holder. I took Light End Dragon out of my extra deck and stared at the picture and wondering if any of my cards were clues as to who I was.

"I've noticed something through that duel…" said Yusei. I looked up at him curiously. "Your cards are quite powerful and I haven't seen anything like them in Satellite… It could be possible that you're from the city…"

Rally and I looked at each other and then looked back at Yusei with blank expressions on our faces. _That's it! I can't hold it!_ I burst out laughing. When I stopped I saw Yusei frowning at me.

"What's so funny?" he asked, a little confused at my outburst.

"Do you see any way that I could have gotten into Satellite? This is an island and if Satellites aren't allowed in New Domino City, I doubt people from the city are allowed into Satellite!" I exclaimed while trying not to laugh. Yusei continued to frown to himself while Rally and I laughed to ourselves.

**On the way back to the hideout…**

We were oddly quiet on the way back to the hideout. After Rally and I had calmed down, I began to think that Yusei may be right… But if he was right, then how did I get here? And how did I lose my memories? Suddenly, my thoughts were shattered when Yusei stopped in front of an ally and said something that filled me with sadness.

"Guys… I'm leaving tomorrow," he said, looking us both in the eyes. Before I could ask why, Rally piped up.

"Already? Why can't you stay a little longer?" he whined.

"You know as well as I do, Rally, there is only one chance every month for this. I have to go," said Yusei. The two of them looked at me and saw my confused look. After that, they immediately explained.

"You see, a guy Yusei used to be friends with stole Yusei's first Duel Runner and his best card before leaving for the city. Yusei is going there to get it back," explained Rally.

"Well, that wasn't nice…" I said. How could anyone steal a card from someone? Didn't he realise that, here, a deck was your life? Nevertheless, it must have been a pretty important card for him to go all the way to New Domino City just to get it back!

"Yea… That card was pretty important to me so I have to get it back!" exclaimed Yusei.

_Wow… This is the first time I've ever seen Yusei like this… He's normally so calm…_ What I didn't realise then was how important that card was to the fate of the world!

"I still don't see why you can't go next month…" Rally started whining again.

"If he has to go then he has to go." I said. Yusei and I each gave him sterns look so he shut up. Yusei smiled and turned around to walk back towards the hideout.

**In the hideout…**

We had been in the old subway station for about half an hour. Yusei was working on his Duel Runner. He removed the screwdriver he had clenched between his teeth and set to work on fixing the metal plate back which covered the part that he was working on.

I was sitting there, on a box, hugging my knees, watching him work and wondering what kind of Duelist he was and what the card was that he had stolen from him. All I could gather from what Rally told me was that it was pretty darn powerful. I sighed, bored out of my mind. Hearing this, Tank sauntered over to me with an unusually happy look on his face, even for Tank who was always happy!

"Hey! What's eatin' you?" he asked happily.

"… Bored…" I muttered putting my head back on my knees.

"Why don't we duel?"

"… To bored to duel…" The boys (all except Yusei and Rally) gasped at my statement.

"To bored to duel?" yelled Blitz.

"… Uh-huh…" I muttered quietly while not even bothering to look at him. Suddenly there were some mutters from among the three boys.

"Ya know, dueling her may not be the best idea you've ever had," said Rally. The three boys looked at him.

Yusei looked up from putting his tools away. "She beat Bob, you know…" The three boys went slack jawed.

"Isn't he, like, crazy powerful?" asked Tank, slightly shocked.

"I thought you told me he couldn't duel…" I said, looking at Rally.

"I was trying to lighten the moment…" he muttered.

"Oh well, he's been beaten now…" I said before getting up and walking out for some fresh air with Rally in tow…

_Hikari: You mean I'm-_

_Me: Shh!_

_Hikari: But I don't-_

_Me: SHH!_

_Hikari: Fine!_

_Me: Good! __Please R&R! I need inspiration (from my fans if I have any)!_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Duel Runner

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Stardust Accelerator.

_Yusei: So, do I leave here?_

_Me: Pretty much._

_Crow: When do I do something?_

_Me: … I need to do game research… *runs off*_

_Crow: *waits impatiently*_

_Me: *comes back* Ok, according to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Wikia (which I do not own), you come in… well… not until next season at the least…_

_Crow: *jaw hits floor*_

_Me: Anyway… Please enjoy the story… Are you alright Crow?_

It was night time and Yusei was getting ready to leave for the City. He was on his Duel Runner on the tracks and we were all standing on the side of the tracks, ready to say goodbye.

Suddenly, Rally jumped off the tracks and ran towards Yusei. "Yusei! Take this to help you!" he yelled just as Yusei put down the visor on his helmet. He pulled out a card that appeared to be Rally's favourite card Turbo Booster.

"Rally…! Didn't your father give you this…?" Yusei asked, astonished at the fact that Rally would give him his most prized possession. Rally just nodded.

"I want you to have it! For luck!"

Yusei smiled at Rally. "Thanks Rally…" he said looking the young boy in the eyes. He gave us a thumbs up as he started up his Runner and sped down the tunnel. We waved at him and yelled goodbye until and my heart sank when he was finally swallowed up by the shadows of the tunnel. We were all quiet for a while after that. We were all upset that we wouldn't be seeing Yusei for a while. It struck me as odd how, just a few minutes ago, we were all so happy. But, were we only happy for Yusei and not ourselves? Oh well… He was gone now… It made no difference…

**30 minutes later…**

I had been thinking about what Yusei said and frankly, it was starting to make sense. I must have come from the city, otherwise I wouldn't have a deck like this because, like it or not, you didn't find cards like these in Satellite. I guessed that, sooner or later, I'd have to go to the City like Yusei. It may have been the only way to find my destiny (not that I believe in that kind of stuff). At this time, I didn't know how right I was but I was to find out in the near future.

That was all fine and dandy but, if I was to go to the City I would need a Duel Runner and, from what I have been informed of, the only Turbo Duelists in Satellite were Yusei and the infamous Sector Securities I had heard so much about and, if that was the case, I'd either have to build my own Duel Runner (which, by the way, I know nothing about) or I'd have to steal one from Security and run the risk of getting caught. I don't think so!

I sat down on a box and began mindlessly fiddling with my Duel Disk. I took it off my arm and turned it over. As I did I noticed that there was something on the bottom. A kind of compartment. I opened it and, to my surprise, I found the Speed Spell – Angel Baton in it.

Wow! That's a Speed Spell! Where did you get it?" an excited young voice from behind me exclaimed. I jumped a mile in the air and turned round to see Rally who had a rather idiotically ecstatic look on his face.

"I-I just found it in my Duel Disk! Jeez Rally! How long have you been there?" I yelled.

"Oh about 10 seconds," he replied, looking at a non-existent watch on his left arm before looking back at me excitedly. "But if you found it in your Duel Disk then that makes you a Turbo Duelist!"

I looked down at my card in thought. "But even if I am a Turbo Duelist, what difference does it make if I don't have a Runner?"

"Well, a Turbo Duelist does need a Runner…" Rally said thoughtfully. _Way to go genius. How'd ya figure that one out?_ Suddenly his face lit up. "I know! Why don't we buy you one?" he exclaimed.

"I thought that Yusei and Sector Security were the only people in Satellite that had Duel Runners."

"Nope! They're the only Turbo Duelists! That doesn't mean there aren't any other people with Runners!" I looked at him in confusion.

"But if they aren't Turbo Duelists, why do they have Runners?" Rally laughed at my question.

"You never know what people will buy around here! That's why they have them! They make them themselves and then sell them on! Most of them are actually pretty good!" he exclaimed.

"I suppose I may as well… but there's one problem… I don't have any money." I admitted. Rally laughed again.

"We don't use money around here anymore! We use DP!" he replied.

"DP?" Ok. Now he had me confused. Rally saw my confused look and sat down beside me on my makeshift seat.

"Duel Points. You get them when you win a duel and the number of points you have shows how good you are in Satellite. You can transfer the Points to other Disks and people sell things for these points. Thugs do it to make themselves look like better Duelists so you'll find plenty of them selling things like homemade Duel Runners.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about Duel Runners for?" asked Nervin curiously, walking over to us. We looked up at our blue-haired friend as he stopped in front of us. Rally explained our situation to him and he looked thoughtful for a moment. "Ya know, I think there was a guy selling a good looking Duel Runner not far from here. We could go and ask him about it," he said.

"Sounds like a plan," I replied. I looked down at my Duel Disk and pressed the button to show me my DP. How did I know it was there? Simple. It had DP written beside it. The two boys walked towards the stairs leading out of the tunnel while I stared at the total amount of DP that I had. "10,000…" I muttered. I obviously dueled a lot of people before I lost my memory…

**Outside the guy with the Duel Runner's house…**

"So you're interested?" he asked us.

"Yes." I replied. The man went into his garage and brought out a blue and yellow Duel Runner. It wasn't the prettiest or fastest looking Duel Runner ever but it would have to do. After we checked it over to make sure that everything was in its right place we set to work on finding the price.

"It's actually not bad… How much is it?" I asked.

"1500 DP and it also comes with a riding suit and helmet," he replied. I transferred the DP to him. "Thanks. Have a nice day," he said before walking away, smiling to himself.

"Well, that wasn't too bad." Nervin said happily.

"You should try it out later!" exclaimed Rally.

"I think I will." I said looking at my new Duel Runner.

**At the Old Highway…**

Everyone had come to watch my first run on my new Duel Runner. They all stood at the side of the road while I put down the visor on my helmet. I started the engine and it didn't sound too bad. I began accelerate it to make it move and it ran pretty well. It wasn't fast but it would get me to the City one way or the other.

I sped round the corners, not like a bullet but fast enough for me. Later I was to find that I was going faster than I thought. I dodged the debris left by the terrible Zero – Reverse incident that I had heard so much about. When I came to a stop beside my friends a few minutes later and they all praised me for how well I had done. It was embarrassing but I just smiled and nodded even though my face was bright red. We wheeled the Duel Runner back to the hideout and tank went to look up when the next pipeline maintenance day was taking place and, because Yusei had gone through the pipeline, something happened and they needed to do another maintenance check the next day. It was time for me to face my destiny…

_Me: Longest... chapter… ever… Gotta… lie… down…_

_Jack: But you ARE lying down! You're still in bed! At 11:00 in the morning!_

_Me: Hey, that's just what I do. Please R&R!_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Great Escape and the Black Rose

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Stardust Accelerator or The Great Escape.

_Me: *whistling The Great Escape*_

_Rally: No! That song it annoying!_

_Me: I have worse than this._

_Rally: Oh, really?_

_Me: *grins and sings the "I Know a Song That'll Get on Your Nerves" song*_

_Rally: NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT!_

_Me: *grins* Please enjoy the story!_

**In the hideout…**

Today was the big day. Everyone was crowded around me at the entrance to the dark tunnels of the subway asking random questions like "was I ready" or "what was I going to do when I got there." Honestly, I didn't know the answer to either of those but this chance to get to the City was too good to miss.

Eventually it came to the time when I would have to leave. I didn't want to go but if I didn't, I knew I'd regret it later. I got on my Runner and put the visor down on my helmet while they all stood back as the engine roared to life. I revved the Runner before saying my goodbyes and flying off down the tunnel and out of sight of my friends and into the dark depths of the damp tunnel, my only light being the moonlight shining through a long, jagged crack in the roof.

I rode down the tunnel for about 10 minutes before emerging into the cool night air. I rode as quickly as I could to the entrance to the underground pipelines, stopped and pressed a button on the dashboard. A clock appeared on my screen and showed that it was 3 minutes to midnight. I was tired but I needed to keep motoring on. I was too close to go back. I waited until it said 1 minute to midnight before starting up my Duel Runner again and going quietly to the pipelines. I was in by the time the clock read midnight, the garbage stopped flowing and I darted down the tunnel.

Everything was quiet except for the sound of my Duel Runner as it sped down the pipeline. I kept a close eye on the time and about 30 second after entering, I heard sirens blaring behind me.

"Darn…" I muttered and started to accelerate. I wouldn't be caught here. Suddenly, a large man on a Sector Security Duel Runner came into view behind me.

"You must be a friend of that brat who got away from me the other day! Chasing that brat left me scarred! You Satellite punks are gonna pay!" he yelled. _Scarred?_ I thought to myself. I pressed a button on my Runner to give me a view of what was going on behind me and, sure enough, I saw a long scar down the left side of his face. _Yusei did that?_

I started going as fast as I could which, might I add, seemed to be fast enough for me to start to lose him. He growled to himself and started to go faster too but it didn't seem to be enough. I had been told that they could hack your Duel Runners and automatically start a Turbo Duel but he didn't seem to be thinking of that. We raced down the tunnel, dodging the debris on the floor of the pipe and raced towards the maintenance hatch that was scheduled to open in T – 1 minute while he hurled insults at me about people from Satellite, though mainly about Yusei, from behind.

I could see the hatch and headed towards it. He growled out more abuse as I threw myself through it and sped down the maintenance tunnel and the hatch started to close, leaving the Officer in the pipeline as the garbage started to flow again, pushing him out.

As I left the pipeline, I noticed that there was no one around. I kept driving on through the city. It was larger and much cleaner than Satellite was. I kept riding until I reached a rundown area that looked a little bit like Satellite.

Eventually, I reached a place that looked like an old, dirty pub. I was called Bootleg but what struck me was that there was a man walking into it that looked awfully familiar. I stopped as he disappeared into it, got off my Runner and hurried in after him. The man sat there, ordered some milk and showed the bartender a card that appeared to be an Ushi Oni. He looked up as I walked towards him and smiled; glad to see a friendly face.

"Hikari!" he smiled as I sat down.

"Hey, Yusei!" I smiled back. Then I noticed a mark on his face. "Did you get marked?" I asked him curiously. He started telling me about his time in the City and, honestly, it wasn't pretty. He had been locked up in the Facility and had experiments done on him because a mark appeared on his arm during a duel with Jack Atlas, the man who stole his card and his Runner. Now he was here to find a guy called Blister who would help him find his cards and his Duel Runner which were confiscated from him by Sector Security. I told him about my trip through the pipelines and he explained to me that the man who chased me was called Trudge and that he had no intention of scarring him. Something in his eyes told me he wasn't lying so I believed him.

We got up to walk out and, when we did, Yusei noticed my Runner. He seemed remotely impressed by it until a man on a Duel Runner rode down the street towards us. He stopped a few feet away from us and put up the visor on his helmet.

"I'm Blister. You needed me?" he asked Yusei. Yusei nodded and explained his situation to him. Blister nodded and handed him a helmet. However, Blisters' Runner looked too small so we both rode on mine, me at the front because the controls were somehow different on his and he had no idea where anything was. He sat at the back. We rode to Blisters' apartment and parked in his garage. He and Yusei went upstairs and I stayed downstairs on a sofa and waited for them to come back.

It was a long wait and there was no clock so I'm not exactly sure how long it took for them to come back. When they did I was off in my own little world and didn't hear when Yusei started talking to me. It was about 40 seconds later when he shook me that I snapped out of it.

"Oh! Hi, Yusei!" I smiled. "How long have you been here?"

Yusei looked at me as if I had two heads. "We've been here for a minute and a half." Now it was my turn to look at him as if he had two heads. Yusei shook his head and walked over to the other sofa, lifting a bag off of it and leaving. I looked at Blister in confusion.

"He's going to the Impound Centre to get his cards and his Runner back. We came up with a plan," he explained. I felt uneasy as I watched him leave, like something bad was going to happen to him…

**Two days later…**

I woke up on Blisters' sofa that morning, only to be told that Yusei still wasn't back yet. I ate some toast that Blister provided for me, said thank you and went for a walk.

As I walked quietly through the street, I came to an area where a lot of Duelists with markers were dueling each other. As I watched a man named Jesse Wheeler Duel, who was apparently a cousin of Joey Wheeler, two boys, one with blue hair and one with brown hair, approached me.

"Excuse me, miss?" the blue haired one asked me. "Have you seen a Duelist called the Black Rose around here? She's a Duelist who can make her monsters come to life!" he exclaimed.

I shook my head. "Sorry, no. I haven't seen her. You know, this area is dangerous for children like you."

"Ah, we can take care of ourselves! Thanks, anyway!" exclaimed the blue haired one again and they started to walk off, only to stop as a tall man with black hair and yellow highlights, a small old man and a tall man with spiky blue hair who were all in possession of Criminal Marks walked towards us. I immediately recognised the man in front and, to my surprise, so did the little blue haired boy.

"Hey, it's Mr Amnesia Man!" yelled the boy. I looked curiously at Yusei and mouthed _what exactly have you been doing?_

_Long story for another day_ he mouthed back.

"Dex! This is the guy who fixed me and Luna's Duel Disks!" he exclaimed. The two boys whispered something to each other before the boy called 'Dex' finally gave up on whatever they were arguing about and the blue haired boy looked up at Yusei in excitement.

"We're here to Duel the Black Rose! She can make her Duel Monsters come to life!" he exclaimed happily.

"You know, this area is dangerous for children like you," said Yusei sternly.

"That's exactly what she said!" he said excitedly while I stood there with a cheesy grin on my face when Yusei looked at me.

"But if there is a Black Rose, you'll get hurt, Leo," stated Yusei in his 'protective older brother' tone of voice that I kept hearing him use with Rally.

Suddenly, a loud roar could be heard behind us. As we turned, we witnessed a large dragon like creature destroying the buildings around us with vines extending from its back as frightened Duelists fled in terror. From behind me, I heard Yusei groan in pain. I spun round to see him kneeling on the ground, holding his arm in pain and, not to long after, I found myself in the same position. There was a searing pain in my right arm and, as I lifted my hand away from my arm, I saw a shining red mark on my arm. It was made of a two long lines with three lines sticking out of it* and was throbbing with a burning pain. Yusei appeared to have one with some sort of face on it.

All of a sudden, Yusei stood up and ran into the dust cloud. I got up and ran after him and was followed shortly after by Yusei's friends. The children fell onto the ground, both with shocked and terrified looks on their faces.

As we all came to a stop in front of the dragon, we saw a woman wearing a white mask standing in front of it. She gasped when she saw the marks on our arms. As she did so, her dragon screeched in what seemed like alarm.

"You also have marks!" she exclaimed in a shocked, or possibly frightened, voice.

"Also?" I asked. She refused to listen to me and slammed a card into her red Duel Disk before disappearing in a bright purple light. Needless to say, we were all shocked her sudden outburst. I turned to look at Yusei, noticing that his mark had stopped shining. Then I noticed that my mark had stopped throbbing. I looked down at it and saw that it had stopped shining too. I pulled my sleeve up and saw the mark that gave me the power to decide the fate of the world…

_Me: That long enough for you guys?_

_Jack: Could have been longer…_

_Me: THIS TOOK ME DAYS TO WRITE!_

_Jack: Whatever. It doesn't mean anything to me unless I'm in it._

_Crow: Why you ungrateful little-! *lunges at Jack and the two start fighting*_

_Me: Please R&R!_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Crimson Dragon and a Dark Encounter

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Stardust Accelerator, Google nor am I the person who made Nyan Cat/Pop Tart Cat.

.

_Me: Half of this will probably be an explanation of the Crimson Dragon from the old guy._

_Yanagi: Can I really?_

_Me: Yea. Sure. What the heck. Oh, by the way, I was supposed to explain something from the last chapter. If you look up Stardust Accelerator birthmark on Google Images you can find what the mark on Hikari looks like. It's actually pretty hard to describe what it looks like with words but, without further ado, please enjoy the story._

.

After we all got back to Blisters apartment, the old man and the tall thuggish guy introduced themselves to me as Tenzen Yanagi and Bolt Tanner, respectively. We all tried to figure out what these marks were and, in the middle of our confusion, Yanagi, as we called him, appeared to be itching to tell us something about them.

After desperately trying to get our attention for nearly 10 minutes, Blister finally addressed him.

"Alright old timer. Whaddya want," he said impatiently, if not with a hint of exasperation.

"I can tell you all about your marks!" he exclaimed. After exchanging some looks, we decided that, annoying as he was, if he knew about our marks then we should at least give him a chance. Yanagi pulled out a piece of paper and put in on the desk, lifted a red pen and started to draw something.

"Now, I'm not the best at drawing but this is what the Crimson Dragon looks like. Signers have the ability to control the Crimson Dragon!"

"Crimson Dragon?" asked Blister with a look of confusion.

"You see, 5000 years ago, a group of people called The People of the Stars built a temple to honour the Dragon Star. When a group of monsters attacked the world, the Crimson Dragon came down and fought with 5 other dragons to seal away the monsters into what we now know as the Nazca lines. Then the Crimson Dragon sealed its power away in 5 humans who now had the power to summon the beast. It was said that there were 5 Signers and the marks were of the head, front claw, wings, rear claw and tail."

"So, I have the tail?" asked Yusei curiously.

"It appears that you have!" exclaimed Yanagi.

I looked at the piece of paper, pulled up my sleeve and stared at the mark on my arm. Something suddenly struck me as odd.

"Mine doesn't match any of the marks that you've told us about," I said without looking away from it. Everyone looked at my mark and then the drawing.

"I suppose your right," replied Blister.

"If that's the case, then there must be a sixth Signer!" exclaimed Yanagi excitedly. I stared in wonder at my mark. _A sixth Signer? Why did the Crimson Dragon choose now to have a sixth Signer? And why me?_

"Well, it's getting late. We should probably talk about this more tomorrow," suggested Blister. We nodded our agreement and went to bed. Everyone fell asleep almost immediately… all except for me.

I just couldn't. Why was there all of a sudden a sixth Signer? And how were we supposed to find the other four? The words of the Black Rose ran through my mind. _"You also have marks!" _What did she mean also? Did she mean that she had one? Or did someone she know have one? It was hard to tell. I dwelled on this for a little while before getting up and walking over to the window.

As I looked down onto the street below, I saw to people dressed in hooded cloaks. But that wasn't what struck me as odd. What struck me as odd was that both people had shining marks on their arms.

I dragged a groggy and whining Yusei over to the window. The people were still there when we got there. Yusei rubbed his eyes in disbelief when he saw the marks and, after getting his jacket, we both ran, albeit rather slowly, to the elevator and out the door when we reached the bottom floor.

We followed them to a car park where they stopped and turned round to face us, raising their Duel Disks. We did the same and we all walked apart, giving us space to Duel.

"Who are you guys? Are you Signers?" yelled Yusei. The people laughed and the one facing Yusei spoke to us.

"We are Shadow drones!" he exclaimed.

"We are here to destroy the Signers!" cackled the woman opposite me.

Suddenly, without warning, purple flames sprung up around us, separating us from one another.

"What's going on?" demanded Yusei.

"You'll find out soon enough," said the man in an almost emotionless tone before a smirk spread across his face. The woman began to mile as well.

"It looks like the only way to get out of this is to Duel them!" I yelled at Yusei. He looked at me and nodded.

"DUEL!"

.

_Me: I know this is rather short but the next chapter will be coming REALLY soon._

_Jack: Didn't you have a dare for the readers?_

_Me: Oh yea. I do. I want you guys to look up this really annoying video of a thing called Nyan Cat, watch the longest version you can find and see if you can stand the annoying music. Then I want you to review this or preferably pm me and tell me if you did it and how annoying it was. Please R&R!_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Shadow Duel

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Stardust Accelerator.

_5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's_

_Me: LET THE PAIN COMMENCE!_

_Hikari & Yusei: I don't like the sound of this._

_Me: Just so ya know, I'm only covering Hikari's Duel, not Yusei's. It's too complicating to do two different Duels at the same time._

_Hikari & Yusei: I still don't like the sound of this._

_Me: Without further ado, LET THE BLOOD SPILL!_

_5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's_

"DUEL!"

**(Hikari: 4000, Shadow Drone: 4000)**

"I'll start! I draw!" I yelled as I drew a card. "I summon Absorbing Kid from the Sky in Attack Mode!"

A chubby little boy with angel wings appeared on the field. Just then, a blast of wind came from my monster, nearly knocking me back into the wall of fire.

"What was that?" I asked, shocked that my monster produced real power.

"Did I forget to mention that this is a Shadow Duel?" she smirked. "All the damage produced in this Duel is real."

_Real? _I thought, shocked at the information. "I place one card face down, and end my turn," I growled in annoyance.

"I draw," the Shadow Drone said. "I summon Blizzard Dragon in Attack Mode," she smirked. A blue dragon appeared materialised on the field resulting in a blizzard. I dropped to my knees, shivering, as the freezing wind blew past me. The Shadow Drone merely smiled coldly at me. _Oh well… She can't attack me anyway because of my face down_ I thought, looking down at the card that was to save me this turn.

"I activate the Spell Card, Cold Wave!" she cackled. "I suspected that your card would destroy my monster but this card prevents any spell or trap cards you have from activating until the end of your next turn!" My eyes widened as an icy wind blew from her card, freezing my Mirror Force.

"Now Blizzard Dragon will attack your Absorbing Kid!" Blizzard Dragon began to run forward and swiped at my monster causing it to freeze and shatter. It while I was busy watching my monster disintegrate, her dragon walked over to me and slashed me across the stomach with a glowing claw. I was thrown on my back, clutching my stomach in pain as my Life points plummeted. As I lifted my hand away, I saw that my hand was covered in a bright red substance. I was almost sick when I saw that it was my own blood.

"Hikari!" Yusei yelled when he saw me on the floor. He couldn't see the blood from where he was. I stood up, albeit slowly and shaking a little, and smiled wearily at him. A look of concern, sadness and pity crossed his face before he reluctantly returned to his Duel.

"I end my turn," my opponent said, dragging my attention away from Yusei.

**(Hikari: 3500, Shadow Drone: 4000)**

"I draw," I drew a card, forgetting about my injury for the time being. "I summon Apocatequil in Attack Mode." A tiki-like monster appeared on the field and pointed its staff at Blizzard Dragon. _Both of them hav__e the same Attack Points so no one can Attack, not to mention the fact that I can use Spell and Trap Cards next turn_ I thought.

"I end my turn," I said. If I was going to beat her, I would have to stay calm. I took a deep breath and stared straight into her cold, blue eyes, showing that I wasn't afraid of her.

"I draw!" she said, drawing a card from her deck. "I summon Blizzard Lizard in Attack Mode! Next I activate Foolish Burial! This allows me to send one monster from my deck to the Graveyard! Now I activate Monster Reborn to summon the Blizzard Lizard I sent to the Grave! Now I place one card face down. Your move."

"I draw!" I said. "Apocatequil! Attack her Blizzard Lizard!" I yelled. The little tiki raised its staff and pointed it at Blizzard Lizard, firing lightning towards it. The Drone raised her arm over her face down card.

"Not so fast! I activate Negate Attack! This allows me to negate your Attack and end the Battle Phase!" A barrier formed in front of her monster and, upon hitting it, the lightning dispersed.

"I place one card face down and end my turn."

"I draw! I summon another Blizzard Lizard from my hand! Next I place one card face down! Your move!"

"I draw!" I yelled. I had no monsters I could summon without them getting destroyed, but with all those Blizzard Lizards, she was planning something and I had to stop it. Now.

"Apocatequil! Attack her Lizard again!" Apocatequil did the same as before but at the moment I thought it would make impact, she activated her trap card.

"I activate Waboku! This card prevents me from taking damage and also prevents my monster from being destroyed!"

"I end my turn…" I replied weakly. I was beginning to notice the pain again and could feel the blood soaking my shirt.

"I draw!" she cackled after seeing my discomfort. I could feel Yusei looking at me, as if he knew that something was wrong. I would have loved to turn around and tell him that I was fine but, if I did, I'd have been a filthy liar, now wouldn't I have?

"The time has come to end this!" she laughed hideously. "I sacrifice two of my Lizards to summon Dark Tuner Catastrouge!" A monster that I had never seen before rose onto the field in a blizzard like all of her other monsters. Even though it had 0 Attack Points, there was something unmistakably evil about it.

"Now I tune my Blizzard Lizard with my Catastrouge!" The normal stars became dark and surrounded Blizzard Lizard who screeched in pain as they duck into its flesh before it exploded.

"When shadows are devoured by even darker shadows, the curtain pulls back and reveals a world without light!" A monster that was covered from head to foot in ice appeared onto the field in a blizzard that was far more severe that the others before it. "Come forth from the shadows! Frozen Fitzgerald!" she cackled. The blizzard knocked me into the wall of fire and I crashed to the ground on my side in a spray of my own blood.

"Blizzard Dragon! Attack her Apocatequil! I only need my Fitzgerald to win this!" The two monsters collided and exploded. "Frozen Fitzgerald! Attack her directly!" Her monster began to attack me with a spray of ice shards. I managed to get onto my knees with a shaking hand clutching my stomach.

"Not so fast!" I gasped. "I activate my trap Defence Draw! This allows me to negate the battle damage and draw a card. I managed to get to my feet and drew a card as Apocatequil exploded. I put it in my hand and, even as dizzy as I was from the blood loss, a plan began to form in my mind.

"Your move," she said. "You can't run forever you know."

"We'll see," I said as I drew. "I send discard one card from my hand to activate Lighting Vortex! This allows me to destroy all of my opponents' Attack Position monsters!" As I said this, Fitzgerald let out a scream of agony as she became cloaked in lightning and disintegrated.

"NO!" she screamed.

"Now I activate Monster Reincarnation to bring Apocatequil back to my hand!" A light came from my Duel Disk and Apocatequil returned to my hand. "I summon Apocatequil again!" Apocatequil returned to the field while doing a little dance. "Attack her directly!" My monster finished his dance by pointing his staff at her and shooting electricity through her body.

"I place one card face down and end my turn!"

**(Hikari: 3500, Shadow Drone: 2200)**

"I draw!" she snapped. Her eyes widened when she saw it was not the card she was looking for. "I place one card face down. Your turn," she mumbled.

"I draw!" I smiled when I saw the card. This Duel was over. "I summon Asura Priest! Now Attack her directly!" The Shadow Drone hissed in pain as Asura Priest punched her in the stomach with his 6 fists. She dropped down onto one knee, clutching where the blue priest had punched her.

"Now, Apocatequil! Finish this!" She screeched as a shock ran though her body, causing her to collapse. As she did so, the wall of flames around us faded and, a few seconds after Yusei had one, so did the flames around them.

**(Hikari: 3500, Shadow Drone: 0)**

Yusei walked up to the man he was Dueling, picked him up by the collar of his shirt and pushed him up against the wall.

"Okay! You had better tell us who you are and who you're working for!" he demanded. The man woke up just in time to hear Yusei say this.

"What the heck are you talking about," he murmured. "I'm not working for anybody."

"What?" Yusei asked. The man fell asleep and Yusei let him drop to the floor before turning round to me. I was staring at the woman and not thinking about Yusei or the dizziness that was weakening my body. Yusei saw how pale I was and immediately became concerned.

"Are you alright, Hikari?" he asked. Suddenly I became aware of him and the blood that was now soaking my torn blue jeans and a shot of pain wracked my body. I clutched at the seeping gash on my stomach and slowly turned round and began to walk towards shakily Yusei. Having seen my injury for the first time, Yusei ran towards me, caught me in his arms as I fell forward and lowered me down to the floor. He took off his jacket and tied it around my waist to stop the bleeding.

"It's gonna be alright…" he said as he lifted me up. To me, his voice sounded muffled and distant. Suddenly, police sirens blared around us. Yusei ran with me to the edge of the car park and jumped to the bottom before running in the direction of the hospital. But for me, at the moment we hit the ground, everything went black…

_5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's_

_Me: Yea. I know. This part comes AFTER the Fortune Cup but putting it in this order is much easier for me._

_Hikari: YOUR FAKE BLOOD RUINED MY JEANS!_

_Me: And I'll ruin your face next if you're not careful._

_Hikari: Oh? And how are you gonna do that?_

_Crow: *whispers* She owns a sword. (I seriously do!)_

_Hikari: HAH! You wouldn't pull a sword out on your main character!_

_Me: Don't tell me what I can and can't do… *pulls out sword*_

_Hikari: Oh chiz… HELP ME!_

_Me: Please R&R! I value your opinion! *runs after Hikari*_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Recovery

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Stardust Accelerator.

_5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's_

_Hikari: You mean I have to be in hospital for the ENTIRE CHAPTER?_

_Me: *raises sword* You don't have a complaint, do you?_

_Hikari: *see's sword and speaks in monotone* .. No… Not at all…_

_Me: *smiles* I thought not. Please enjoy the story!_

_5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's_

The sound of muffled voices pulled me from my sleep. I appeared to be on something soft. It was much more comfortable that the old sofa I was sleeping on in Blister's apartment. I heard a faint beeping beside me. The pain in my stomach was gone.

"… monitor her closely…" I picked up from one person. It was a man who appeared to have a very kind voice.

"How long will she be in for?" asked a much clearer voice. Yusei?

"A few weeks. Maybe a month. We can't be sure." It was at that point that I realised that I was in hospital. _Damn it Yusei! I didn't need to go to hospital! I'm sure I would have managed one way or the other! Eww! It smells like disinfectant!_

"Thank you."

"Don't worry about it, Mr Fudo. It's our job."

I heard the doors swing open and shut as the man left the room and felt heard Yusei sit down on the bed beside me. He took hold of my hand kindly and reassuringly. I felt so tired but I didn't want to fall back asleep without letting Yusei know I was alright. I managed a moan which caused Yusei to freeze.

"Hikari?" he asked softy. "Are you awake?"

I slowly opened my eyes and settled them on a blurry face above me. After a few seconds my vision cleared.

"Damn it Yusei… I didn't need to go to hospital… I'm sure I would have managed one way or the other…" Yusei chuckled at my 'enthusiasm' as he would put it later.

"You tired?" he asked me. I looked at him as if he had two heads.

"Of course I am... How'd ya figure that one out, genius…?" I said sarcastically.

"Are you angry with me?"

"I hate hospitals… They smell of disinfectant…" Yusei chuckled again and squeezed my hand.

"You should get some rest. I have to go and tell the guys that you're in here. They're probably worried sick about us by now," he said softly. I smiled at him and he squeezed my hand one time before he left to go to Blister's apartment. He didn't know Blister's phone number so he couldn't call them and he certainly didn't want the doctors to know that he was looking for him. He was wanted by certain people round these parts apparently.

I stared at the ceiling for what seemed like ages before I decided to get some sleep but just before I could, Yanagi flung the door wide open, making a loud bang that made everyone look at them.

"HEY!" yelled Yanagi. Needless to say, everyone was embarrassed to even be with him. Everyone walked in (staying far away from Yanagi) and came over to me. For a few minutes, there was an awkward silence.

"Sooooo… How ya doin'…?" asked Blister rather awkwardly. I gave him a pissed off look.

"Not the best question you've ever asked, genius," I responded sarcastically. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly decided against it and closed it again after I shot him another look.

"Are you still angry with me?" asked Yusei.

"I hate disinfectant!" I whined again.

"Angry?" asked Tanner.

"She's afraid of hospitals."

"I AM NOT AFRAID OF HOSPITALS! The smell makes me feel sick."

"Ah. So you thought you would have been fine on your own?" asked Blister. I nodded.

I tried to sit up hoping that it would wake me up a little. Yusei had a look of disapproval on his face but I ignored him and sat up anyway, wincing a little as I did so. They must have given me some pain killers like lidocaine* or something and they were starting to wear off.

I looked at the ceiling again and now I had found something to watch.

"Oh. A spider," I said absentmindedly.

"WHERE?" screeched Yusei, almost falling over. _Oh yea. __I forgot he was afraid of bugs. Oh great. He's glaring._

Everyone started giggling and then we all burst into fits of laughter.

"What? WHAT? Can I not be afraid of bugs?"

"O-ow! My stitches!" I laughed, almost crying. Yanagi fell on the floor in stitches and Blister and Tanner nearly did the same. I looked up at the ceiling again.

"It's alright Yusei! The big, bad bug is gone!" Everyone burst out laughing again and the doctors and nurses were beginning to stare.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" We stopped laughing.

"Yes it is," said Tanner innocently. It was getting less funny so we only erupted into giggle fits this time.

Soon, the visiting hours were over so the guys, including Yusei who was very red in the face, had to leave. We said goodbye and I believe Yusei sulked all the way back to the apartment because I could hear the hyenas as they walked down the street… and I was apparently on the sixth floor.

A little while later, a doctor came in to see how I was doing.

"Hello Miss… Hikari, is it?" he asked after looking at my patient information. I nodded and smiled at him. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, glasses, wore a long, white lab coat and a very kind smile. His voice was exactly like the doctor's voice that I heard when I first woke up. Kind, calm and professional. "Are you sure you can't tell us your last name?"

"I wish I could but I honestly can't remember. I'm sorry," I said a little sheepishly. He only smiled at me again.

"It's quite alright. How are you feeling?"

"Tired, but alright. By the way, did you guys give me lidocaine or something? Cause if you did it's wearing off.

"Yes we did and it should be wearing off by now. I'll see about getting you another smaller dose."

"It's fine. I don't need any."

"Are you sure?"

"Yea. I can stick it for another while," I smiled. He put the clipboard back at the end of my bed and took a good look at my face for a few seconds, but then quickly dismissed the thought he had.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's nothing. It's just… I used to know a girl about your age named Hikari and she looked a little like you. She went missing. But I doubt you could be her, after all, Mr Fudo told me that you were found in Satellite when we asked for your history." He raised his bright blue eyes up and looked into my grey-blue eyes as if searching for an answer.

"Yea. I doubt it would be that easy to find my family. After all, that's why I came here. You see, my friends all thought that I couldn't be from Satellite because of the cards in my deck," I responded. I looked to the table beside my bed and lifted my deck case off it before looking through it, as if trying to find some hidden clues to my past that I didn't find before. When I found no luck I sighed and put it back down again.

"I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for soon enough," he stated with a smile. I smiled back.

"Well, if you don't need anything, I suppose that's it then. I'll leave you to get some rest."

"Thank you doctor…" I looked at his name tag (**here it comes guys!**). "Norstein.*" (**:D**)

Doctor Norstein (**1**) left the room and I sank back down into my bed and tried to get some sleep. I fell asleep about 5 minutes later.

**Next morning…**

I woke up that morning to find someone familiar sitting beside me. I wiped my eyes on my hospital gown and looked up into his eyes.

"Yusei? What are you doing here at this time of the morning?" I asked wearily.

"Morning? It's 3 o'clock in the evening!" he laughed.

"3:00? How long have I been asleep for?" I said sitting up, noticing that my stomach didn't hurt. Oh well. It was probably just the lidocaine.

"Well, let's see… Yusei looked up at the clock and counted in his head before frowning slightly. "About a week," he said calmly.

"A week? Wow… That was some party."

"What party?" I shrugged.

"Just being random. Yayness! (*****) I love being random!" Yusei laughed at me.

"Anyway, how ya doin'?" he asked.

"Better than I was a week ago. By the way, why did I sleep that long?" Yusei shrugged.

"I don't know. Tired? I didn't sleep that night ya know."

"Why?" Yusei went red.

"They're everywhere…" he whispered dramatically, looking around the ceiling. I tried to hold in my laughter but I failed miserably and burst into a giggle fit. I shut up after he began to glare at me.

"Why do you hate insects?" I asked, vaguely curious.

"Well… Let's just say that once a cockroach crawls in your ear you never think of bugs in the same way again…" he mumbled, still red.

"I think you're overreacting…" I said.

"But do you know what cockroaches do?" he asked me, a serious look on his face.

"Of course I do. They lay eggs in your brain (**2**)," I replied.

"That's the thing! I don't want baby cockroaches eating my brain!"

"Yea… You're right… You don't have enough brain cells as it is…" I giggled before getting a blow to the face from a pillow, feathers falling to the floor as it hit me.

We both began laughing at the stupidity of it and Yusei sat down beside me. For a moment we gazed into each other's eyes. I could think of nothing else as I looked into the deep blue pools that had so many emotions swimming around inside of them.

Suddenly, we broke eye contact as Yusei pulled me into a deep embrace.

"Y-Yusei?" I asked, turning a deep shade of red. For a few seconds, he was silent.

"You know… We could have lost you…" he mumbled quietly. I became shocked as I could feel something wet drip onto the back of my neck.

"Y-Yusei…?" I hesitated. "A-are you crying…?"

Yusei didn't respond. He just continued to hug me and I succumbed to his embrace… and hugged him back…

_5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's_

_Me: Heck yea! After months it's finally done! I AM BACK!_

_Hikari: And soppy…_

_Me: *grins evilly and pulls out totally real sword* I'm sorry… Did you say something, Hikari?_

_Yusei: *runs by and pulls Hikari away at top speed*_

_Me: *stamps foot* Darn… Anyway… Please R&R!_

_5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's5D's_

_Thomas H. Norstein from Digimon: Data Squad. Highly intelligent and graduated from college at 12 years of age. Gained medical licence at 13 years of age._

_True fact: cockroaches nest in the ears of living beings, laying eggs in their brain as it is warm and moist (exactly to their liking). Once hatched, the larvae are hungry and proceed to devour the flesh inside of the organism's head._

_(*) __Yayness is my word. Take it and feel the sting of my blade as it penetrates you, spilling blood as it enters your soft, mortal flesh… Heed my word humans! Mwahaha! Ok, so I'm not that evil… Big deal. Taking it will still have dire consequences… Now I just have to figure out what those are…_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Invitation

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. I only own the OC's.

_5D's_

_Me: My classmates are at a serious disadvantage._

_Yusei: Why?_

_Me: I have to do coursework tomorrow. I have to write 1,000 words and, because I've practiced by writing stories, I can write 1,000 words in a few hours when I'm not distracted (which is quite a lot). And we have 2 days to do it._

_Jack: *whistles* That's quite an advantage._

_Me: I know! Isn't that great?_

_Yusei: Yea._

_Classmates: *glare*_

_Yusei: Oh… Not for you, though… Sorry 'bout that…_

_Me: Oh, they're harmless… Anyway… Please enjoy the story!_

_5D's_

Ah… Fresh air… I'd been in there for too long… TWO WEEKS! SERIOUSLY! Oh well… NO MORE DISINFECTANT!

Yusei and I were in a room in Blister's apartment. So far, neither of us were talking to each other, the memory of Yusei's breakdown at the hospital still fresh in our minds.

Did he really care about me that much? Did he… love me? I had so many thoughts and had no answers to any of them. I looked round at Yusei to see him leaning against a wall, looking at the ground, hands in his pockets. The look on his face was one of confusion. He obviously had as many questions about me as I did about him.

I saw him lift his eyes to look at me and when I realised that we were both looking each other, I felt my cheeks grow hot and looked away. I could still feel Yusei's eyes boring into me as I sat on Blister's sofa.

"H-Hikari…?" stammered Yusei beside me, breaking the awkward silence.

I looked slowly up at Yusei, not saying a word. Yusei shook his head quickly, as if trying to clear it.

"N-never mind…" he said quietly.

I looked at him confused. "Are you ok?" I asked, getting worried about him. It was almost as if he didn't hear me. He just kept concentrating on something on the floor. Searching for a way to rouse him, my eyes rested on something on the floor.

"Hey! Look Yusei! A spider!" I exclaimed. Yusei didn't move. Either he was scared stiff or he really couldn't hear me. After a few seconds, he moved.

"… Oh… That's nice…" he said quietly. His eyes looked blank and full of confusion.

I put my hands on my hips. "Ok, Yusei. Can just tell me what's wrong? You're acting like a zombie, for Ra's sake!" Yusei merely sighed. "That's it! I give-" I stopped as a thought hit me. I grinned evilly and picked up the spider, throwing it at the sulking man.

"ARGH!" he yelled as the spider fell on his jacket. He ran out of the room screaming like a little girl while I was in hysterics.

Blister came down the hall just as Yusei threw the spider off him.

"SHE-DEMON!" he yelled at me.

"ZOMBIE!" I laughed.

"CAN SOMEONE FILL ME IN?" yelled Blister.

"That She-Demon threw a spider at me! It was huge!" he yelled, showing Blister what size it was with his arms, albeit highly exaggerated.

"Oh, for Ra's sake! It was the size of a Skittle!" I laughed.

"It was not!" he yelled.

*I put my hand to my face. "Yes. You're right Yusei. It was huge," I agreed with him. Blister tensed. I could see he knew how women worked. I put my hand that was on my face up to silence Yusei when he tried to speak and shook it to keep him quiet. I got up and walked out of the room and into the hall. I took three steps past him and looked back. "You're a wuss, being afraid of insects…" I walked away.

Blister ran after me. "He's gonna freak out, you know," he told me.

"That's the point," I replied simply as Yusei walked into the room I had just left and shut the door.

10 minutes later…

I could hear Yusei pacing around in the room I had left, muttering about my insult.

"Ha… A wuss… That was the lamest insult I've ever he- I AM NOT A WUSS!" he yelled. I giggled. Exactly the reaction I wanted…

Blister came up behind be. "Yup… Freaking out… Just as predicted…" I muttered, a grin spread across my face.

"You know, you are a She-Demon…" he said, shaking his head.

"Yea…" I smiled. "I wonder where I got it from." I wondered.

"I've been with enough women to know how that works. It's your secret weapon," Blister said.

"What secret weapon?" asked Tanner as he walked down the hall, a glass of juice in one hand.

Blister whispered something to Tanner while I kept a sickly sweet smile on my face. Tanner dropped the glass in shock and it smashed on the floor, spilling juice.

"You fiend!" he hissed.

"Why, thank you!" I replied sweetly and skipped by them, leaving behind two shocked boys and a priss.

I walked down the street, genuinely pleased with myself. It felt good to hurt people emotionally… Wonder why… Oh my gosh! Am I evil?

I didn't have time to ponder on this as I suddenly heard someone calling me. I turned around.

"Well, well! If it isn't the wuss!" I exclaimed loudly earning a few laughs from bystanders.

"Now… is not… the time… for that!" panted Yusei as he finally caught up to me. I saw two envelopes in his hands and stopped, bent over, hands on his knees.

"What's the big hurry?" I asked.

"You'll never… guess what… just… happened…" he wheezed.

"What?" I asked as Yusei finally caught his breath.

"You know the Director of New Domino?" he inquired.

"Yea. What about him?" I asked.

"Well, the Vice-Director just showed up. He wants up to participate in that tournament that's coming up," he explained.

"The WRGP?" I asked.

"No! The other one!" he exclaimed, exasperated by my apparent lack of wit that I was clearly putting on.

"The Fortune Cup?" I asked. Yusei sighed in relief, afraid that he was going to have to spell it out for me.

"Yea. That one. You do realise that the WRGP isn't for another 5 or 6 months, do you? How do you even know about it?"

"I watched the anime. We're not breaking the fourth wall too much, are we?"

**(Just roll with it!)**

"Ok. Why does he want us to participate?" I asked after our little chat with the author.

"He apparently knows about our duel with the Shadow Drones," replied Yusei. "He thinks that you would be a good candidate and Jack wants to duel me, so…"

"Do we accept?" I asked.

"We have no choice. They've taken our friends back in the Satellite hostage. If we don't fight, they'll hurt them." I gasped in shock. That decided it.

"We have to tell the others too!"

"Of course, but first of all… what do we say?" Yusei teased.

"Hm?"

"Come on. I'm waiting for an apology," he grinned. I sighed in irritation.

"Fine! I'm sorry! Forgive me!"

"Ah, ah! What's the magic word?" I sighed again.

"Fine. Please."

"Well, the magic word was 'stars' but I'll let you away with it," he teased. I raised my fist.

"I'll show you stars!" I yelled and began to chase after him.

_5D's_

_Me: I finally got round to finishing this chapter! By the way, boys, this is how we girls emotionally scar you. Leave when your girlfriend does it. I do it on a regular basis so I know how it works._

_Yusei: That's right. With girls, one simple sentence can destroy you!_

_Me: Aye. As a great comedian said once, we're "brain ninja!" We assassinate you from the deepest recesses of your mind… DEAL WITH IT! Please R&R!_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Fortune Cup – Bring it on Kuroe!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Yu-Gi-Oh! at all for that matter.

_**5D's**_

_Yusei: Why are you suddenly writing this again?_

_Jack: Yea. I thought you were completely absorbed in that other story of yours._

_Luna: Leo and I thought you had forgotten about us…_

_Leo: I DID NOT! I KNEW it! I KNEW she would come back!_

_Me: Well, the other story is nearly finished so I'll have a lot more time for you guys when I'm not in school. But, anyway, I was playing Stardust Accelerator (I started it again) and a line in it struck me as odd. So I thought it would make a good storyline._

_Jack: Which line was it?_

_Me: That would ruin the surprise…_

_Hikari: I don't like this…_

_Me: You don't like anything…_

_Hikari: That's YOUR fault!_

_Me: I AM YOUR CREATOR! SHOW ME RESPECT!_

_Hikari: Just because you made my character, that doesn't mean I have to respect you…_

_Me: I respect God, don't I?_

_Hikari: … Well… Uh… Shut up!_

_Me: Whatever… Please enjoy the story!_

_**5D'S**_

I woke up on the morning of the preliminaries. I was lying on the sofa in Blister's apartment. Yusei slept on a sofa at the other side of the room. For a moment, I stared at him. I couldn't understand why, but I did it anyway. For a few minutes, I watched the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed softly before glancing at the clock.

9:00 am! Crap! We were all late! I shot off the sofa and brushed my hair ('cause there was no way I'd show Yusei my bed head!) and shook him awake.

"Yusei! Wake up! We're late! It's 9:00 already!" I yelled. When Yusei simply murmured something about a Duel Runner and rolled over, I may have gotten… a little mad… "YUSEI!" I bellowed, pulling him off the sofa. He grunted in alarm as his head hit the floor. "Yusei! It's 9:00!" I yelled. Yusei's eyes went wide with shock and he shot up off the floor.

"Why didn't you try to wake me up earlier?" he yelled.

"I did! You wouldn't wake up so I had to pull you off the sofa!" I retorted. Yusei paid no heed and ran right past me, not even bothering to fix his hair (Not that he needed to. His hair is ALWAYS perfect in the morning!).

I ran into the kitchen to see him grabbing a piece of toast from the toaster and shoving it in his mouth without any butter. I raised my eyebrow as he rushed to pull his boots on and calmly walked over to the toaster to lift the remaining slice of toast.

"Why are you rushing so hard?" I asked. "We have to get the others up and we still have 3 hours. It only takes half an hour to get there. We were only supposed to tune our decks," I reminded him. He paused what he was doing and turned his head to look at me. He had just pulled his boots on and he pulled the toast out of his mouth. He was silent for a few seconds.

"… Oh…" he said finally. "… Well… That's embarrassing…" he muttered. I sighed and sat down on a chair. He frowned. "Something wrong?" he asked me.

"It's just…" I began before sighing again. "It's just… Do you think I'll find any links to my past there…?" I asked him nervously. Yusei looked like he didn't know what to say, but he eventually spoke.

"Hmm… I… I'm not sure… Maybe…" He paused and sighed. "I don't really think I can answer that, though… Sorry…" he smiled sheepishly. I looked down at the floor as Blister walked in.

"Hey. What's with the mood in here?" he asked. Tanner walked in.

"Yea. It feels like I'm back in prison," he responded with a smirk.

"Never mind…" I responded and got up. I walked right past them with my head down, not even bothering to acknowledge them anymore. Blister frowned.

"What's wrong with her?" I heard Tanner ask Yusei as I left.

"She's just… troubled… That's all…" I heard his voice as I walked into the room we had slept in.

I lay down on the sofa with a sigh and lifted my arm up over my face, pulling the sleeve down. There was nothing there, but when we met the Black Rose. I had never felt the burning pain again that I now associated with the power of the Crimson Dragon.

But something still puzzled me. I clearly wasn't one of the 5 Signers. My mark was different. But if I wasn't a Signer, then what was I? Did the Crimson Dragon choose another Signer or was I something else entirely? Whatever it was, I felt like I would get some answers at the Fortune Cup.

I sighed and lowered my arm. Hours seemed to pass by as I lay there until Yusei finally came in and leaned against the door post.

"Hikari… It's time to go…" he said. I wasn't listening. "Hikari?" he repeated. I looked up.

"Hm…?" I turned around to face him.

"It's time to go…"

"Oh…" I responded quietly. I got up and walked straight past him without another word, lifting my helmet from the desk as I passed.

I walked out the door, got on my Duel Runner and started it up. Yusei did the same with his and we both put on our helmets before revving and setting off down the street towards the Kaiba Dome. It was large, white and clean, just like the rest of the city.

We pulled our Duel Runners into the garage as directed by the staff and went to wait in the waiting room where I flopped unceremoniously onto the sofa.

"That was graceful," Yusei chuckled.

"What grace?" I asked sarcastically. We both laughed, ignoring one of the staff members who had just walked in.

We turned when he spoke to us. "Excuse me, but the tournament is starting. Please head to the stadium for the opening ceremony," he smiled as his employee handbook told him to, even though he clearly didn't like the thought of filthy Satellite people in _his_ clean, unblemished city.

Yusei and I ignored the obviously forced smile and got up to leave with the other challengers, ignoring Luna teasing Leo about wearing make-up somewhere in the background.

As we walked out into the open I pulled my hair around my face hoping that no one would see who I was.

The MC told all the challengers to line up and the ceremony began. He began by welcoming everyone and by telling them what he had in store for them along with the names of the contestants. Then some of the audience members saw Yusei's criminal marker.

"Hey!" yelled one man in the audience. "That guy's a Satellite!" I looked down at my own old-looking clothes, hoping that no one would notice. However, my luck was in short supply as a rather and posh and stuck up sounding woman in the audience decided to comment on it.

"And just look at that filthy riding that girl is wearing! She must be a Satellite too!" he exclaimed.

The arena broke out in an uproar of insults. Suddenly, one of the challengers stepped forward and took the microphone from the MC.

"As a Duelist up here, what it is everyone sees? They are undoubtedly Duelists, selected under the same conditions as all contestants. Having cards, marker or not, we are all the same. No one here should be ashamed of anything. It is rather you, looking at them, through their trivial rose-coloured glasses that are no short of vicious." He handed the microphone back to the MC.

Just then, the Director – Director Goodwin – began to walk out, applauding him. The audience began to follow, one member at a time. Soon the arena was filled with clapping.

"Thank you, Greiger, for reminding us of the equality of all the players," he smiled. As I saw the Director, I began to feel a little sick and uneasy, but I ignored it… But… he looked so familiar…

I had not time to dwell on it as the MC began to announce the match-ups. The match-up for the first duel was announced. Leo (or Luna, as it was announced) vs Greiger.

_After the duel ('cause I'm sure you don't want to see/read it again)_

Leo came back to the waiting room with a sad expression on his face. However, I was having too much fun with a swivel chair to notice. I heard Yusei comforting him while I giggled like a child as I swung myself around in the chair.

Yusei came up to me a few minutes later, stopped the chair and leaned on the headrest, looking down at me.

"Havin' fun there?" he grinned. I pouted.

"You're no fun…"

"I know. I'm a killjoy, aren't I?" he laughed.

He stopped laughing and turned to the screen to see a knight (Yes. A knight) being beaten by a young woman with a plain white mask. I gasped as the stadium seemed to be torn to pieces.

"… What was that…?" I asked in shock. Yusei was silent for a few seconds; then his eyes went wide.

"We've seen her before! Remember when our marks began to glow a few days ago?" he whispered to me.

"You can't expect her to be the Black Rose!" I whispered back.

"How can't I? She's got the same destructive power!" he reasoned. I looked back at the screen.

"… Maybe… Maybe you're right…" I responded hesitantly. "But… anyway… Who's dueling next?"

"Me and some guy named Shira…" Yusei stated.

"Who's that?" I asked him.

"I'm honestly not sure. I've never heard of him," he explained. "Well, I'll just have to find out in our duel. You'd never know. He could be good."

"Maybe. Just be careful," I pleaded.

"Am I ever not?" he grinned. I smiled back just as the MC called out the next contestants. "Well… that's me. See ya."

"Good luck!" I called after him. He waved back to me as he headed out. I was going next after him. I was against some guy called… Kuroe Takehiko. His first and middle names were listed but his last name wasn't. I looked up at the screen and watched as Shira was actually revealed to be a man named Hunter Pace who wanted his revenge on Jack Atlas for defeating him.

"Wow… This guy has a lot of enemies…" I thought, thinking about all the things Jack had done. "Oh well… He deserves it…"

I continued to watch the duel progressing and was thrilled when Yusei came out victorious. When I saw him the next he was coming into the waiting room with his helmet under one arm and a smile on his face. I grinned at him as he walked over to my chair where I had begun to swivel again. He watched me spinning around and laughed.

"Nice… work… on… that… duel…" I said each word every time my chair turned to face him before moving on.

"Thanks. You're up next, aren't you?" he asked me. I stopped swivelling and stood up. I sat down again feeling dizzy and got back up again when I sorted myself out. "You don't want to be dizzy going into a Turbo Duel you know," he reminded me. "Smart move."

"Oh, blow it out your exhaust pipes… I'm fine now…" I teased.

"You might want to get out there before they announce you," he advised.

"Ok. Thanks," I said picking up my helmet.

"Good luck!" he called out as I left. I waved back at him and ran on; just barely reaching my runner by the time my name was announced. I revved it and sped out of the pits through a cloud of smoke.

I caught up to my opponent as he sped around the track. He was wearing a black riding suit with a black helmet. His duel runner was sleek, shiny and black. I looked down at my own runner. Mine suddenly seemed a lot less impressive… not that it was anything special in the first place.

"Hi there!" I called out to him. He looked towards me.

"Hi! Good luck!" he called back.

"You too!" I responded.

Speed World activated signalling the start of the duel.

"DUEL!" we chorused.

**(Hikari: 4000 SC: 1 Kuroe: 4000 SC: 1)**

"Ladies first!" he stated, motioning for me to make the first move.

"Alright then! I draw!" I yelled, drawing a card. "I summon Absorbing Kid from the Sky (ATK: 1300)!" I ordered as a pudgy angelic child rose onto the field. I place one card face down! I end my turn!"

**(Hikari: 4000 SC: 2 Kuroe: 4000 SC: 2)**

"Alright then! It's my move! I draw!" He drew a card. "I summon Armageddon Knight (ATK: 1400) in attack mode! When this card is summoned, I can send one card from my deck to the graveyard!" he yelled. A card came out of his deck. "I choose my Mezuki!" he said putting the card in his graveyard. "Next, I attack your Absorbing Kid!" he commanded. My Kid was obliterated and I took 100 points of damage… and it stung.

"Argh…" I moaned as I got my Runner back under control. "What on Earth was that?" I asked myself. "That felt… real…" I mused. He continued with his turn.

"Next, I activate Foolish Burial and send Il Blud from my hand to the graveyard! I place one card face down. That ends my turn," he said, barely audible over the roar of our engines. It seemed that he was aware that he had hurt me and seemed almost ashamed. Also, it was like he didn't want to be here.

**(Hikari: 3900 SC: 3 Kuroe: 4000 SC: 3)**

"Alright! I draw! I summon Apocatequil (ATK: 1800) in attack mode!" The little monster danced out onto the field. "Attack his Armageddon Knight!" I ordered. The attack went through and his monster was obliterated. It took him a few seconds to get control of his Duel Runner but soon he was riding smoothly again. "I end my turn with a face down!"

**(Hikari: 3900 SC: 4 Kuroe: 4000 SC: 4)**

"My turn! I draw!" He drew a card.

"I summon Zombie Master (ATK: 1800) in attack mode! By removing the Mezuki in my graveyard from play I can summon one Zombie type monster from my graveyard! I choose Il Blud (ATK: 2100)!" A portal opened on the ground and the large, hulking form of Il Blud pulled itself out of the portal and onto the field with a zombie-like moan.

"I attack your Apocatequil with Il Blud!" he yelled.

"Not so fast! I counter with Waboku!" I countered. The trap flipped up. "With this card I can stop all battle damage and my monsters can't be destroyed this turn!" Kuroe gritted his teeth.

"I end my turn…" he said so quietly I could barely hear him.

_Alright… I just need something to stop Il Blud… I have the equip spell I need but I need a Warrior type monster… _ I thought.

"I draw!" I drew a card and smirked. "I summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (ATK: 1800) in attack mode!" I commanded as the masked shinobi rose onto the field. "Next I activate the equip spell Lightning Blade! This card raises Sasuke's attack points by 800 and reduces all Water type monsters attack points by 500 (ATK: 2600)! I attack Il Blud!" I yelled as one of the kunai in his hands changed into a long sword that was crackling with powerful electricity.

"ARGH!" he grunted as he tried to maintain control of his Duel Runner as it spun out of control. His tires managed to grip the road again and he sped forwards behind me. "Nice attack!" he called as his life points dropped.

"Thanks! I end my turn with a face down!" I called back.

**(Hikari: 3900 SC: 5 Kuroe: 3500 SC: 5)**

"I draw!" he yelled; swiping a card off the top of his deck. "I summon Dark Tinker (DEF: 1300) in defence mode! Next I activate the Speed Spell: Double Summon! By using two of my Speed Counters I can summon once more this turn! I summon A Cat of Ill Omen!" A black feline monster walked onto the field.

"Oh no… He's going to Synchro Summon…" I mused.

"I'm tuning my Level 2 A Cat of Ill Omen and my Level 4 Zombie Master with my Level 2 Dark Tinker!" he cried out as the familiar green rings and shining stars appeared. "When the day of Armageddon comes it will be brought about by the one cloaked in black flames! Burn it all down! Rise! Dark End Dragon (ATK: 2600)!" he bellowed, one hand reaching up into the air where the dragon now flew overhead. It let out a terrifying screech and black fire and smoke began to billow around it.

_Dark End Dragon… _ I thought. _The counterpart to my own Light End Dragon… If his other attacks hurt… what's this going to feel like…?_

"I activate my Dragon's effect! By removing 500 attack points permanently I can send one of your cards to the graveyard and I choose Sasuke!" he ordered.

I bit my lip in frustration wondering how I was going to get out of this as Sasuke exploded along with Lightning Blade. I heard growling and looked upwards at the dragon cloaked in flames overhead.

"Dark End Dragon! Attack her directly!" he commanded. Black fire rushed towards me. I screamed as it engulfed me but I did not catch fire for some reason although my clothes became singed slightly. My wheels span, unable to grip the track. I looked at my opponent to see him panting with one arm outstretched towards me. His hand was clenched into a fist. He let his arm relax and appeared to sigh.

"Nice one!" I yelled at him. His response wasn't expected.

"I'm sorry!" he called back.

"For what?"

"For accidentally hurting you! I didn't mean it!"

"Uh, that's ok! It's not your fault!"

"Oh well! I end my turn!"

**(Hikari: 1300 SC: 6 Kuroe: 3500 SC: 4)**

"I draw!" I drew a card but didn't turn it over. I had one of the cards I needed in my hand. I just needed the other. I could summon one of my best monsters after that. If I couldn't then… it would all be over… I slowly turned it over… to see the card I needed! I laughed.

"I summon Skybound Immortal Helios Agen!" The winged angel-like man appeared on the field in front of me. "Now I activate its effect! I sacrifice this card to summon one of my most powerful monsters from my hand!"

Helios spread his golden wings and began to glow brightly. His wings folded around himself and light began to pour off him as he began to change form.

"I summon Guardian of the Light Helios Ultimatum (ATK: 4000)!" The light dispersed to reveal what appeared to be an armoured man on some kind of armoured beast. The beast roared as they appeared.

"Wha-?" exclaimed Kuroe in shock.

"I attack with Helios!" Helios raised his spear which had begun to glow with a bright light and the beast began to run forward. He lifted his spear and drove it through the Dragon's chest as it rushed by. It then spun around and ran back.

"I end my turn with a face down!" I called.

**(Hikari: 1300 SC: 7 Kuroe: 2100 SC: 5)**

"I draw!" he yelled through gritted teeth. "I place one card face down! That's it!"

**(Hikari: 1300 SC: 7 Kuroe: 2100 SC: 5)**

"I draw!" I briefly looked at my card. It wasn't useful to me now. "Attack!" I yelled. As Helios charged, Kuroe activated a trap.

"Not so fast! I won't lose here! Not until I find Goodwin!" he proclaimed. "I activate Draining Shield! With this card I can negate your attack and gain Life Points equal to your monster's attack points!" he exclaimed.

"Hah! I activate Seven Tools of the Bandit! I'm sorry but I have a reason to be here too! I still need to find an answer to my question! I need to find out who I am! Helios! Fight on!" I yelled. The attack hit him and his Duel Runner spun out from underneath him. I stopped my Duel Runner as quickly as possible to help him up.

**(Hikari: 1300 SC: 7 Kuroe: 0 SC: 5)**

"Are you alright?" I asked as I stooped down beside him. "Are you hurt?"

"Ugh… No… I can't have lost here… I need to find her…" was his only response.

"Huh…?" I asked.

"Don't you understand? I need to find her! Goodwin took her! I know it!" he yelled angrily. If I wasn't confused already by his last comment; now I was confused.

"No, I don't understand! What are you talking about?" I asked, clearly frustrated.

"He has my sister!" he yelled. He stood up and ran straight for Goodwin's office before I could stop him.

"Stop it! You might be hurt!" I called after him as guards stood in front of him and pushed him back. After a few tries of breaking through he realised that he wasn't getting anywhere and angrily stormed off. At first I thought that I should help him but then I remembered my own friends who were at stake. Not only that but I needed to help Yusei get his card back. And I still needed to find out who I was.

I picked up my Runner and brought it inside where I was greeted by Yusei. He ran towards me.

"Hikari! That was incredible!" he exclaimed happily. "And you've hardly ever Turbo Dueled! How did you know what to do so quickly?" That confused me.

"Uh… Honestly… I don't know… Maybe I used to be a Turbo Duelist," I suggested as I took off my helmet.

"Maybe you're right. You were always good at riding. I wouldn't be surprised. No one is that good when they first start off. It's the only logical explanation," he mused.

"I still think that I might understand who I am through this tournament… Will you help me Yusei? You're the only one here I can count on…" I asked quietly, putting my head down. I looked back up to see Yusei smiling kindly.

"You can always count on me…" he smiled. From then on, I knew I could count on him.

"Thank you…" I grinned at him. Suddenly, Yusei sniffed the air.

"You… uh… smell kinda singed… Did that attack actually hit you?" he asked.

"Uh… I think it did… Maybe there are more like the Black Rose…" I pondered.

"If there is that can't be good news. By the way, who's dueling next?" I asked.

"I don't know. I hear they're doing something to the set-up of the tournament," he responded.

"Like what? Changing which contestant fights who? Isn't that a little unfair?" I asked.

"Maybe, but that's how it's going down. Maybe you should get yourself checked over in case you got hurt," he suggested kindly.

"No, I think I'm fine. It's only a few bumps and bruises. Nothing I can't handle. I'm more worried about that other guy though. He fell off his Runner but wouldn't listen to me…"

"He walked off the field. There's no doubt that he's alright. He looked perfectly fine to me," Yusei said trying to stop me from worrying. I sighed in what kind of felt like relief.

"That's good…" I stated happily. At first I wondered why I was being so concerned about this guy but I decided to shrug it off. It was none of my concern, nor did he appear to want it to be. But I still hoped he's find his sister… Poor guy…

**5D's**

_Me: Good luck Kuroe!_

_Kuroe: Why did you even make me? And why don't I have a last name yet?_

_Me: 'Cause I didn't give you one yet… Or did I…? *shifty eyes*_

_Leo: You'd better have a better storyline. We've waited for so long!_

_Me: I know and I'm sorry. But, I'm back in the game now and I'm going to juggle both my stories at the same time. Please Rate and Review!_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: My Family?

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.

_5D's_

_Me: Sorry for the wait guys! I've been writing another story and doing exams but now I'm back!_

_Jack: IT'S ABOUT TIME!_

_Me: *pulls chainsaw from hammerspace*_

_Jack: … I'll be good…_

_Me: Good! I've probably skipped some duels here but I don't really care :P Please enjoy the story!_

_5D's_

_(Kuroe's POV)_

I sighed as I sat down on a seat in the waiting room, silently cursing myself for losing. Had I won, I would have been one step closer to my goal.

That girl I dueled… She seemed so familiar… But the person I'm looking for had excellent mastery over her inner spirit… Just like Father… Not that I kept in touch with my parents anyway… And not only that, but she didn't even recognise me.

Unless… she doesn't remember… Maybe something happened… Maybe… That was her…!

But I never saw her face… I had to see her! One more time!

_(Hikari's POV)_

I walked by the waiting room and looked into the room. That guy I dueled… Kuroe… He was there…

I took a sip of the can of cool, fizzy drink that I had in my hand. Kuroe looked so sad… I made up my mind, turned around to a vending machine in the hall and bought a can of orange fizzy drink like mine and a bar of chocolate. Maybe the endorphins would make him feel happier. I don't even know why I was being nice to this guy. Maybe because he was sad. Maybe I just felt sorry for him.

Oh well… No time to sit here and think about it! Time to play fairy godmother and bring happiness to a sad person!

I walked into the room and sat down beside him.

"Hey Kuroe. Nice duel we had, eh?" I asked quietly.

He seemed to hesitate, not even looking up at me. Maybe… was he was afraid?

"You looked upset so I brought you these. Are you alright?" I asked. He took the drink and chocolate from me.

"Yea… I'm sorry… Thank you very much…" he mumbled. He chuckled as he looked at the drink.

"I like this kind… How'd you know…?" he asked. I paused.

"Well… That's the kind that that I'm drinking… I just guessed, that's all," I replied awkwardly. He opened the can and took a sip.

"… So… Where are you from?" he asked me.

"Uh… Well… Satellite, I guess. At least, I _think_ I'm from Satellite…" I responded.

"You _think_?" he asked sceptically.

"I honestly don't know. I woke up in Satellite a few months ago with no memories of who I am or where I came from. A friend of mine thinks that, because of my deck, I could be from the city. But I don't see how anyone from the city can get to the Satellite without a Criminal Marker," I stated.

"No. I don't see how either," he replied.

I stayed silent for a minute, unable to think of anything to say. In the end, it was Kuroe who broke the silence.

"I've done a lot of questionable things to find my sister lately…" he sighed.

"Hey, it's understandable. If I was in your position, I would do the same," I responded, trying to sound kind.

"… Thanks… It means a lot to hear someone say that…" he muttered sincerely.

He raised his eyes slightly, looking straight forward. His eyes were… strange…

The colour was… for lack of a better word… unearthly… From afar, they seemed to be a blackish-brown colour but, when I got close enough to see them properly, there was a strange golden hue to them.

Something about them just seemed to trigger something inside my head. Like a distant memory. It unsettled me…

I could see golden eyes in a shroud of darkness… Where had I seen them before…?

Of course, Kuroe's eyes held none of the animosity that I saw in the brief recollection of my past. But it was still unsettling… The likeness was uncanny…

Suddenly, Kuroe slowly began to turn around to face me…

_(Kuroe's POV)_

It was now or never. Now was not the time to be scared. I had to look my fear in the eye. I was afraid of being disappointed. Not being able to find her. But I just HAD to make sure! If I didn't check, I'd never be able to stop thinking about it.

I slowly began to turn my head towards her, afraid that I'd only see some other girl. Afraid that I'd never find my sister. I closed my eyes, hesitant to look. But slowly… I began to open them… and…

My eyes widened.

"… Hikari…" I whispered. Hikari sipped her drink and looked at me.

"Yea?" she asked me, as if she couldn't see me right in front of her.

"… Hikari… It's you… It's you…!" On impulse, I grabbed hold of her arm, afraid to let her go. Hikari jerked away with a yelp…

_(Hikari's POV)_

"OW! What are you doing…?! I yelped, quite shocked.

"It's you! It's really you!" he continued rapidly.

"What do you mean by that?!" I pressed.

"Hikari! My sister's name was Hikari! You look just like her! It has to be you!" he cried excitedly.

"M-Me…?" I asked breathlessly. It all suddenly made sense… What Yusei had said about my deck may have actually been true… And if that was the case and I really _did _come from here… maybe I had finally found my family!

"Don't you recognise me?!" he asked me in a shocked tone.

"… I… I…" I stammered. "… I'm sorry… You remember what I said, don't you? I don't even know who I am… If you think that I'm your family, of course I would do anything to help you prove it but… I'm sorry… I just don't know…" I replied quietly.

"… I know a way to find out…" Kuroe told me.

"You do?" I asked hopefully.

"Show me your deck. The Hikari I know had a one of a kind card. If you have it, then you're my sister…" he told me.

Shakily, I took out my deck and handed it to him. He began to look through my cards…

_(Kuroe's POV)_

I took her deck from her with shaky hands.

'_Please… Be in here…'_ I pleaded.

One by one, I looked through her cards. As I suspected, her deck was exactly the same. Now, if only that card was in here…

Then my eyes settled on a Synchro Monster… A Light attribute, just like the others... It was very powerful… And it was…

_(Hikari's POV)_

"… Light End Dragon… It's here…" he mumbled.

"Light End? What about Light End?" I asked him. It wasn't rare, was it?

"This was her card… Light End Dragon… The opposite of my Dark End Dragon…" he mumbled again. He turned to me.

"You really _are_ my sister…" he stated breathlessly.

I couldn't explain it. I didn't even know him. But tears came to my eyes. And all of a sudden, I was hugging him. He felt so familiar somehow. Then a thought came to my mind. I leapt back with a gasp while my brother stared at me with confusion.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I forgot Yusei! I told him I'd see him before his duel started!" I squeaked.

"Well, if you run, you'll make it!" Kuroe urged. I stood up and had turned to leave when Kuroe grabbed my arm and stood up. "Just one thing before you go… Promise me… Promise me that I'll see you again!" he pleaded.

I stared. Then I smiled. "Don't worry… I promise…" I spoke softly. Suddenly, I heard Yusei's duel being announced, squeaked and ran for it, my brother watching happily on as I bolted out the door.

Thankfully, I managed to reach the duelist waiting area just as Yusei was about to go on. I saw him with a worried look on his face, probably wondering where I was.

"Yusei!" I yelled, just as he was about to leave. He turned and gave a sigh of relief as I stopped in front of him, panting heavily. "Sorry I'm late… I got a little… side tracked…" I panted.

"That's alright. I'm glad you're here now," Yusei responded calmly. "But what happened?" he asked.

"I'll tell you after the match. There's no time right now," I replied. Yusei looked at the clock.

"Yea. You're right. Wish me luck!" he smiled.

"Good luck!" I grinned back.

(A/N: Once again, I'm skipping the duel 'cause I'm sure no one wants to see – or read – Yusei vs Greiger again.)

How Yusei managed to duel so calmly with that much noise, I'll never know. Greiger's Duel Runner sounded like constant machine gun fire so how Yusei even stayed _near_ it… Well… Let's just say I was impressed…

As the duel ended, Greiger began to make accusations against Goodwin. My first thought was that this Goodwin guy wasn't very well liked. Between what Greiger was saying and what my brother had said when we finished dueling, apparently he'd done a lot of wrong.

What happened next made my heart skip a beat. What was Yusei thinking?! He could have got himself killed! And Greiger too! I'd have to give them a talk when they got out of the stadium.

But, I also had something to tell Greiger. I had a feeling that the authorities wouldn't take to kindly to his little stunt so his next stop was probably the Facility. I had to catch him before they took him away for good. He couldn't just stay in prison knowing that nothing would be done about Goodwin. So, Greiger was my first priority.

I ran through the corridors of the stadium and managed to find Greiger in handcuffs as Sector Security dragged him off.

"Wait!" I called out to them. They stopped.

"What is it, little girl?" asked one of the guards.

"I have something really important to say to Greiger. Just, please. Please give us 5 minutes," I pleaded. The guards shrugged.

"What could 5 minutes hurt?" asked one.

"Yea. It's not like she could prevent it anyway," replied the other. They both turned away to give us some privacy. Greiger turned to me. His confusion was evident in his features.

"What's wrong? Aren't you the girl from Satellite?" he asked me.

"Yes," I stated quietly. "I just wanted to let you know that I believe you," I told him. He seemed very surprised.

"You do? But why?" he asked.

I explained to him my current predicament and all that my brother had told me. Greiger shook his head in amazement.

"I'm impressed by how you have managed to cope, Hikari. And, frankly, I'm not surprised that he would have something to do with it," he told me.

"I just didn't want you to think that no one was going to believe you or stop Goodwin since you can't do it yourself." I sadly looked at the floor. Suddenly, I felt a hand on top of my head.

"I believe you. Just don't be too reckless," he smiled.

"Hypocrite…" I grinned back. We were suddenly interrupted.

"Alright. Time's up. Let's go, Greiger," he ordered in a loud voice, dragging Greiger away. Greiger looked back at me with a sad yet hopeful look on his face as I waved goodbye with a similar expression. If I had known what they were really going to do with him **(****1)**, or what was going to happen along the way, I would have tried to stop them. But, I let them go…

As he rounded the corner, I suddenly realised that I had a certain man to scold and ran back to the waiting area where I found Yusei.

He was on his own and had just come off the field when I saw him. I stormed up to him with a defiant look on my face. He grimaced. I was a woman and I had that look on my face. He knew what was coming next. He was even more terrified when I went quiet.

"… What did you think you were doing…?" I nearly whispered in a deadly tone.

"… Uh… I… That is…" he stammered.

"… You could have been killed…" I muttered. Then I realised it…

'_Oh no! Tears! Stop! Stop! STOP!'_

Too late…

I closed my eyes and looked down as the tears began to fall.

'_Was I really this worried…?'_

Then, I felt a hand on my head. Yusei spoke to me.

"Don't worry… I won't do it again…" he said softly.

I opened my eyes and stared up at his face. He was smiling softly at me in that way that he always did when he was comforting someone that he cared about. But, why me? We'd only known each other for a few months…

"… You don't have to cry anymore… I won't worry you again…" he told me.

I quickly lifted up my arm and wiped my eyes on my sleeve.

"I wasn't crying…" I mumbled.

Yusei appeared to find my obstinacy amusing because he found that he couldn't stop chuckling.

"What's so funny…?" I pouted.

"Nothing… Just… Just nothing…" he stopped chuckling, attempting to look serious.

Just then, the next duel was announced.

"And the next duel will be between… Akiza and Hikari!" the MC announced.

_5D's_

_Me: DUN DUN DUUUUUN!_

_Yusei: … __Who's going to win…?_

_Me: Isn't it obvious?!_

_Yusei: … No…_

_Me: … Okay… Good… Please R&R!_

_5D's_

**In the original Japanese version, Greiger (or Bommer) was to receive capital punishment for the attempted murder of Godwin (Goodwin in the English version). In the English dub, what ****was to happen to Greiger is unclear and there is no evidence to suggest that it was not going to happen just because 4Kids didn't say that it was.**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Black Rose Witch

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. The Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise belongs to its respective owners.

_5D's_

_Me: Hi. It's me again. Normally I'd be saying something witty right about now or even pulling something from hammerspace. However, today, I am being serious._

_First of all, I'd like to say that racism is not okay. We all know that. So why is making fun of people's hair colour acceptable? Every other day, I get "Ginger!" in the school hallways. It's just not cool and, in the immortal words of William Shakespeare, you have a "plentiful lack of wit."_

_I like to call it "Gingerism." It's wrong and it's hurtful. Those people who made that South Park episode that told everyone that gingers were "soulless" had no idea what they were doing or what it would lead to._

_Therefore, I'd like everyone to think twice before they insult a ginger. Just because we are not protected by the law, it doesn't make it okay to make fun of us, just like it isn't funny to make fun of people from ethnic minorities such as black people, Muslims, Jews and anyone else you can think of. It's hurtful, wrong and cruel. Many hundreds of people suffer from depression and/or commit suicide because of these hurtful comments. You don't know what kind of damage you are doing when you bully._

_And to all those who are receiving bullying of any kind, just ignore them. In fact, dare to come up with some new comments and fling them their way. That always makes them shut up ;)_

_If not, it is important that you tell someone what is going on. I confided in my form teacher about the fact that I was being bullied. He spoke out on my behalf and I can literally say that it is the best thing that I have ever done. Since then, even though it wasn't by much, the bullying eased slightly and I found that I always had someone to talk to if the bullying ever got out of hand. Then again, his kids are ginger like me, so it wasn't much of a surprise that he could help me. You might just find that talking about bullying can help you deal with it. No matter what the reason for bullying is, talking about it always helps. _

_So, why am I talking about bullying? Because this chapter is focused on the past, bullying and the hurt that it causes._

_Thanks for reading this and thanks for sticking with the story with the ginger main character because even gingers need love. And Akiza's a redhead too, let's face it._

_So, spread the love to gingers near you!_

_Please enjoy the story!_

_5D's_

"And the next duel will be between… Akiza and Hikari!" the MC announced.

I froze.

'_Me and the BLACK ROSE WITCH?! DUELING?!'_ I thought to myself in a panic.

I turned to Yusei for reassurance only to see him smiling at me. He could see my panic and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine. I believe in you," he told me. I smiled back.

"… Thanks, Yusei… I'll do my best!" I vowed.

"The match will be held in about 10 minutes! Will both Duelists please come to the arena?" asked the MC over the microphone.

"… Well… Bye… Wish me luck…" I muttered as I began to walk towards the arena.

"… Good luck…" I heard Yusei tell me. I continued to walk.

About 5 minutes later, I reached the stadium and was told to wait until I was called for.

I raised my Duel Disk and removed my deck, spreading the cards apart so that I could see each one.

"… Ok, guys… Do me proud… We need to win this or… I'm not sure what will happen…" I muttered.

Suddenly, I heard my name being called.

… Time to go…

I replaced my deck and stepped out onto the Duel Arena only to be met by… cheering?

"Go Hikari!" shouted one.

"Beat that Witch!" yelled another.

Ah… So that was it… They didn't like me, in particular… No… They just disliked the Black Rose Witch more than they disliked me…

But, at the moment, I didn't really care about that.

"Are you scared…?" I heard a quiet, female voice from across the Duel Field. I looked up to see the Black Rose Witch in her usual Victorian-style attire. Her face was covered by a white mask. I found that being unable to see her face was rather unnerving "… I don't blame you…" she continued. "… I'm a monster…" She looked down, unable to meet my gaze.

I could detect a hint of sadness in her voice. Maybe she didn't like what she was doing. Maybe she didn't like the powers that she possessed.

… Maybe she was forced to be here like Yusei and I were!

Suddenly, I began to feel a lot better about my opponent. I smiled softly at her.

"You're not a monster…" I told her. She looked up, startled.

"Not a monster?! Haven't you seen what I can do?!" she cried out.

"But you don't seem to like hurting people. Anyone who doesn't want to hurt people can't possibly be a monster," I told her.

She seemed to scowl. "You know nothing about me! How can you just declare that?!" she hissed.

"Simple. I always stand by my beliefs and it's my belief that you're actually a good person."

She growled. "Enough! Duel!" she demanded. Her duel disk activated and she drew 5 cards. Hearing the announcer signal the start of the Duel, I, too, activated my Duel Disk and drew 5 cards.

_(Hikari: 4000 Akiza: 4000)_

"I'll go first!" called the Witch as she drew a card. She looked at the card she drew and proceeded to summon it.

"I play a monster in face-down Defence Mode!Next, I'll place one card face down! Your turn," she declared.

"Alright then! Draw!" I drew my card and looked at it before placing it in my hand and taking another card.

"I summon Shining Angel in Attack Mode! **(ATK: 1400 DEF: 800)** Next, my Shining Angel will attack your monster!" My Shining Angel lunged at her monster which was revealed to be Wall of Ivy.** (ATK: 300 DEF: 1200)** The angel monster obliterated the ivy in a single punch.

"Not so fast!" Akiza announced. My heart sank. Did her card have an effect?

"From my Graveyard, I activate the effect of my Wall of Ivy which you destroyed! Its effect means that I can summon one Ivy Token **(ATK: 0 DEF: 0)** to your field!" she stated.

I could only watch as a small plant sprouted on my side of the field before turning blue, signalling that it was in Defence Mode. I grunted in disappointment.

"I place two cards face-down and end my turn," I told her.

"My turn, then! I draw!" She drew the card from her deck before gesturing to the field. "I activate my Trap! Cursed Ivy!" The card lifted to reveal a Trap card with a design that was very similar to the Ivy Tokens.

"This Trap card allows me to revive one monster with "Ivy" in its name. I summon my Wall of Ivy once again!" She explained. I watched as Wall of Ivy returned to the field before settling into Defence Position.

"My Cursed Ivy now equips itself to my Wall of Ivy!" she declared.

I paused. _'She equipped her monster with that trap card. Maybe if I destroy it, I'll get rid of Wall of Ivy!'_ I thought to myself. I smirked.

"Alright then. I'll just get rid of your Wall of Ivy here and now! I activate my Quick-Play Spell card! Mystical Space Typhoon! Now I'll destroy your Cursed Ivy!" I gestured to my set card which revealed itself to my opponent. Almost immediately, Cursed Ivy shattered along with Wall of Ivy.

"You've just activated Cursed Ivy's effect! When this card is destroyed, two more Ivy Tokens will sprout onto your field!" I silently cursed my luck as I witnessed the two small plants emerging onto my side of the field.

"Alright then. I'll just have to work with it…" I muttered to myself. Akiza sprang into action once again.

"Next, I activate Seed of Deception! This card allows me to Special Summon one Level 2 or lower Plant-Type monster from my hand! I Summon Dark Verger in Attack Mode! **(ATK: 0 DEF: 1000)** Next, I'm going to Tribute my Dark Verger in order to Summon my Rose Tentacles!" **(ATK: 2200 DEF: 1200)**

I watched as a large newly opened rosebud-like creature with long, thorny tentacles took to her side of the field.

"Now, Rose Tentacles will attack your Shining Angel!" she declared. I could only watch as Shining Angel was destroyed in front of me. It burst into shards of light and, as it did, I became vaguely aware of the large, thorny tentacle coming towards me, only becoming aware of it as it slammed into my side. I was knocked to the ground as my Life Points dropped.

I pulled myself to my feet and sighed at the lack of blood covering the area where I was hit. I was safe. So far.

I decided to call my next move before anything else happened.

"I activate the effect of my Shining Angel! When he is destroyed, I can Special Summon a monster with 1500 Attack Points or less from my deck! I Summon Absorbing Kid from the Sky!" **(ATK: 1300 DEF: 1000)** I watched as the shards of light from my Shining Angel rearranged themselves into the familiar shape of the chubby angel boy who appeared on my field. I sighed to myself, realising that I had everything in place. Akiza began to speak again.

"It's not over yet! Now that my Rose Tentacles has attacked, I can attack again for each Plant-Type monster on your side of the field!" she shouted. "Rose Tentacles! Attack her Ivy Token!"

I had wanted to save this card for later but this attack would compromise my plan if it were to go through. I had to act quickly.

"Not so fast! I activate my Trap card! Negate Attack! This card prevents your monster from attacking and ends the Battle Phase!" I explained. Had I been able to see under Akiza's mask, I would have been able to see her scowl.

"Hmph… Turn end…" she grunted in annoyance.

_(Hikari: 3200 Akiza: 4000)_

"I draw!" I drew my card and placed it in my hand. I picked up another card and proceeded to Summon it.

"I Summon the Tuner monster Buten in Attack Mode!" **(ATK: 200 DEF: 300)** The small angel pig Tuner monster appeared on my field in a small flash of light. I continued with my strategy.

"I'm Tuning my Level 1 Buten with my three Level 1 Ivy Tokens and my Level 4 Absorbing Kid from the Sky!" I declared.

My monsters suddenly became small orbs of light which floated around my now-transparent Buten.

"I Synchro Summon Light End Dragon!" The large, angelic dragon took to the field with a roar. I vaguely noticed the cheers of the crowd intensify with the arrival of my signature monster but I was a little too preoccupied with the Duel at hand to care much about the arrogant, selfish audience who seemed to be cheering for the victory of the person that benefitted them the most. If they had their way, they would want me to be taken out, too.

My thoughts were suddenly drawn away from the Duel at hand as I felt a light throbbing sensation in my right arm. I looked down discreetly and noted that there was no change to my arm. I chanced a quick glance at Akiza but she was also unchanged. I decided that it must have been a cramp, ignored it and continued with the Duel.

"Light End Dragon! Attack her Rose Tentacles! Light Stream!" Light End Dragon began to store up energy causing rainbows to form around the halo and wings of the dragon. Suddenly, it unleashed the energy with a loud screech followed by an explosion as a stream of white light collided with Rose Tentacles. With a shriek, the monster dissipated and Akiza's Life Points dropped.

"I end my turn," I told her. She didn't move. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

"… That's a very impressive monster… Very rare… Maybe you'd like to see mine…" she muttered. There was a bitter tone to her voice that I just couldn't get out of my head. I thought that I could get through to her during this Duel. Apparently not.

"I draw," she finally declared. She stared at the card in her hand and played it.

"I Summon the Tuner monster Cherry Inmato in Defence Mode!" **(ATK: 700 DEF: 400)** What looked like a criminal appeared on the field. She continued. "When I summon a Plant-Type Tuner monster, I can Special Summon my Dark Verger from my Graveyard!" The plant sprouted from the field. "Next, I play one card face-down and end my turn!" she declared.

"Alright, then! Draw!" I drew my card. There was nothing that I could use this turn. I decided to attack.

"Light End Dragon! Attack her Dark Verger with Light Stream!" I ordered. Light End reared back and unleashed its usual white beam of light.

"Not on my watch! I activate Mirror Force!" Akiza shouted just before the attack it.

I could only watch as a barrier surrounded her Dark Verger. Light Stream hit the barrier and bounced off it only to fly out in all directions. The light almost hit a few members of the audience who just managed to dive out of the way in time. When they saw that their seats had been obliterated, the audience members began to run out of the arena. Their screams of terror filled the air as my angelic dragon let out a final screech before being obliterated by its own attack.

"Light End!" I yelled as it shattered. I turned to look at the destroyed stadium before turning to look at Akiza.

"Why would you risk the lives of those people?!" I questioned her. Akiza was silent for a few seconds.

"… I cannot make the attacks of my opponents real…" she stated quietly. I stood there quietly in shock.

"… You mean… I did that…?" I asked. I was completely dumbfounded. I had no idea that I could do that. Did I even want to be able to do that?

"It's terrifying, isn't it? I don't want it either," she suddenly told me. "I wish that I could get rid of it… but… I don't know how… I don't even think I can…" Then she looked me in the eye. "I suppose it can't be helped. The Duel must go on! Make your next move!"

I panicked and stared at my hand. "Um… Uh… I place one card face-down…" There was nothing else I could do. "… I end my turn…" I sighed.

"I draw." She drew her card and Summoned it. "I summon my Lonefire Blossom in Defence Mode!" **(ATK: 500 DEF: 1400)** A small blossom-like creature appeared on the field. "Next, I'm going to Tune my Cherry Inmato with my Dark Verger and my Lonefire Blossom!" I watched as Cherry Inmato became transparent before being surrounded by the stars of light that had emerged from the other monsters on her field.

"Synchro Summon! Black Rose Dragon!" **(ATK: 2400 DEF: 1800)** she cried out. Suddenly, the dull throbbing that I had felt in my arm intensified. I looked down again. I still didn't see anything. What was going on?

"Black Rose Dragon! Attack her directly!" she yelled. I watched in horror as the dragon whipped up gale-force filled with black rose petals. Without warning, the wind surged in my direction and I found myself being knocked over as the rose petals sliced into my skin and clothes. By the time the attack ended, I lay shaken up on the ground, panting heavily. Blood ran from the many wounds all over my body.

"I end my turn," she finished.

_(Hikari: 800 Akiza: 4000)_

Suddenly, I could have sworn that I heard someone calling me.

"Hikari! Hikari!" It was a deep voice. Male. I didn't recognise it almost immediately. Turning my head to the side, I saw Yusei standing where the audience once had before my attack went haywire. He was leaning over the edge of the barrier that lay between the audience and the track as if he was trying to get as close to me as possible.

"Don't give in, Hikari!" he yelled again.

"… It hurts, Yusei…" I croaked. I saw Yusei's gaze become sorrowful. I knew exactly what he was thinking. Here I was, down here, covered in blood and he was unable to come and help me. He'd probably run out and shield me with his body if he had the chance.

"… Hikari…" He trailed off quietly.

No. I wasn't going to give up here. Not now. I'd disappoint Yusei. I'd disappoint everyone. I couldn't afford to get hurt anymore. I couldn't afford to hurt my friends.

I mustered up the strength to stand, despite nearly falling over again, and faced Akiza.

Panting, I drew a card. Then, I gestured towards my field. "I activate my trap card! Call of the Haunted!"

The card flipped up and dark, dense fog started to shroud the field. On my side of the field, a gravestone sprang up from the field, cracking the stone that it was made of. The gravestone began to glow and, all of a sudden, a roar shook the ground and my shining monster rose from the earth, cracking the ground around it as it emerged.

"I'm reviving my Light End Dragon!" I called out as my dragon let out a mighty roar. In response, Black Rose Dragon let out a loud screech. It was almost as though the two dragons were challenging each other.

"Light End Dragon! Attack her Black Rose Dragon!" With a screech, Light End fired its attack, obliterating Black Rose Dragon. "I end my turn."

_(Hikari: 800 Akiza: 3800)_

"… I draw…" She drew her card and activated it. "I activate the Spell Monster Reborn! Come back, Black Rose Dragon!" she shouted as the dragon was resurrected onto her side of the field. I cursed silently. I thought that I had gotten rid of that thing.

"Next, I'm going to activate the effect of my dragon! Once per turn, I can remove one Plant-Type monster from play in order to reduce the Attack Points of your monster to 0!" she declared. "I'm removing my Dark Verger from play in order to reduce your Light End Dragon's Attack Points to 0!"

Shocked by the sudden revelation, I turned to face Yusei, trying to see if he could give me any idea of what to do in this situation. He looked down, trying to judge the distance between himself and the drop to the track below.

"Black Rose Dragon! Attack her Light End Dragon!" I watched in horror as the familiar black rose petal-filled winds whipped up.

At this point, Yusei appeared to throw caution to the wind and jumped over the barrier. He landed on his feet on the track and immediately began to run towards me. I could hear him yelling something but his voice had been drowned out by the wind.

What happened next was a blur. First, I felt the rose petals stinging me all over my body. Then, the wind buffeted me, knocking me backwards. I felt someone catch me, but they were promptly knocked over as well as I hit them with a great force.

The last thing that I heard was the voice of the MC.

"Poor Hikari has just been positively overwhelmed! The winner by a landslide is Akiza!"

_(Hikari: 0 Akiza: 3800)_

_A few hours later…_

As I became vaguely aware of my surroundings, I heard a familiar voice beside me.

"… Don't worry, Hikari… I'll win tomorrow… I promise… I'll get through to her in your place… You'll see…" the voice assured. Then I heard footsteps and a door closing. I opened my eyes slightly.

"… Yusei…?" I muttered in a daze. I turned my head to the side slightly, briefly noting that I was covered in clean, white bandages. I noticed that the bearer of the voice – Yusei – was gone.

I was about to close my eyes again when I heard footsteps approaching the clean, white room that I was in. The door opened.

"Are you awake?" a female voice asked.

I slowly and groggily sat up and attempted to peer through the darkness in the room at the figure in the doorway.

"… Akiza…? Is that you…? Where am I…?" I asked her.

"It's me. You're at the stadium's infirmary. They didn't think that you had to go to hospital, so they kept you here. I'm sorry that I hurt you. I don't like to hurt people. Especially not one like me," she explained.

"Oh… The infirmary…" I whispered tiredly. Then I fully registered what she had said. "… Do you really hate your powers that much…?"

Akiza paused and looked around the room that we were in. Her eyes settled on the chair that sat beside my bed. She walked over and sat down before appearing to be lost in thought, as if she was trying to decide what to say next.

"… My powers have brought me nothing but pain… Let me tell you how I first got them so that you can understand," she told me. I nodded. "When I was a little girl, I was Dueling my Daddy. He's a wealthy businessman and wasn't home very often, but, since my family was wealthy, I didn't really have anyone that I could play with as a child. All I had was Mummy, Daddy and Dueling.

"Daddy had promised to Duel with me for so long and I was finally getting the Duel that I had wished for so long for. I was finally spending time with the Daddy that I loved so much. During the Duel that he had promised me, he got a phone call saying that he had to go back to work.

"I got angry. He had promised to Duel me for so long and, now that I had finally got to spend time with him, I was finding that it would be cut short. I was just a little girl. I didn't understand why my Daddy couldn't spend time with me…

"I yelled at him and… this… _thing_… appeared on my arm… My powers went haywire… My own Daddy called me a monster…" Akiza suddenly let out a broken sob.

Without really thinking ahead, quickly leaned forward and pulled her into a hug.

"Shh…" I hushed her as she sobbed into my shoulder. She sniffed and went on.

"… T-then I went to Duel Academy so I wouldn't have to see my parents anymore. I was only a Slifer Red. People hated me. The bullying was intense for all of us. Then they found out about my powers. All of a sudden, the other Slifer Reds were forgotten. It was just me. Even my fellow Slifer's joined in. They would insult me. They would spit at me. Jeer at me. They would call me 'freak.' Sometimes, they would even try to beat me. The teachers did nothing. In their eyes, I was exactly what my peers said I was. A… I'm a _monster!_" she cried.

"No. You can't listen to people like that," I told her. She sat up and stared at me with wide, red eyes.

"… Huh…?" she asked quietly.

"You're not a monster. A monster is someone who hurts others without remorse. If you were a monster, you wouldn't be crying right now. You wouldn't have apologised to me. You wouldn't want to get rid of your powers. But you do. You _are_ sorry. You_ do_ care about others and you do _not_ have to put up with what others say about you," I stated.

She became very quiet for a second.

"… I don't even know where I belong…" she whispered.

"Neither do I," I said bluntly.

"… What…? Why…?" she asked.

"I don't know who I am or where I came from. I woke up in Satellite with no memories of my past. All I know is my first name and that I'm most likely from the City. I'm hoping to find out where I belong here," I explained.

"… I wish that I couldn't remember my past…" Akiza looked down and fresh tears filled her eyes.

"Don't say that. Your past makes you stronger. Become someone that you can be proud of. Then you can get back at all those people who teased you. Imagine how jealous they'd be that a _Slifer_ was better than them," I giggled.

Akiza stared at me.

"… That _would _pretty funny," she responded quietly. Then she started to laugh a little. "I can just imagine their faces!"

We spend the next 10 seconds or so laughing.

"Hey, Akiza?" I asked after a while.

"What is it?" she replied curiously.

"… Let's be friends…" I smiled. She was silent for a few seconds before breaking out in a huge smile. She nodded enthusiastically and I grinned back.

Suddenly, the clock on the wall let out a small chime. Akiza looked a little sad.

"It's getting late. I have to go," she told me.

"That's okay. I'll watch your Duel tomorrow. Not sure if I'll be allowed to go in person, though," I explained.

"That's alright." She gestured to the wall. "There's a television in here, anyway. I'll let you get some rest. See you later."

"Bye," I waved as she got up and left the room.

I think I just did something really nice for someone today. Talking really does help.

_5D's_

_Akiza: The moral of the story is –_

_Me: Nope. I'll handle this. The moral of the story is to TALK ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS! GEEZ!_

_Akiza: … Why so violent…?_

_Hikari: … No one knows…_

_Me: Anyway… Please R&R!_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Of Needles and Chairs

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's._

_5D's_

_Jack: You took long enough…_

_Me: *pulls chainsaw out of hammerspace and starts it up* I'm sorry. Did you say something?_

_Jack: Uh… Um… *stands up straight* Yes! Yes I did! YOU! ARE! LATE!_

_Me: I thought you said something… *runs after Jack with the chainsaw. Jack runs away* Please enjoy the story!_

_5D's_

I watched as Yusei's Cosmic Blast blew away the rest of Akiza's Life Points. Frankly, I wasn't sure whether to be happy for Yusei or sad for Akiza.

Eventually, I settled on being happy as I saw Akiza's mask of pain finally crumble away to reveal her true self in front of one more person. One more friend, I hoped. She was finally being herself.

It wasn't too long before the door to my room slid open and I turned to the sound of footsteps. Yusei's cheery yet calm voice greeted me.

"I won!" he exclaimed. I grinned at him.

"I know! I was watching! Congratulations! But…" I trailed off, suddenly overcome with sadness. I mean, my new friend just lost!

"What's wrong?" he asked me, confused at my sudden change in attitude.

"It's just that… Last night… I woke up just after you left… Akiza came to see me…" I admitted, lowering my gaze.

"You spoke with Akiza?" His disbelief was evident in his tone.

"I… We spoke… Something happened during that duel and I'm not sure what it was, but… I attacked with Light End and… Akiza said that she couldn't make my attacks real… It was me…" I paused.

"… And she came to speak with you…" Yusei finished for me.

"Yeah… By the time she left, we were already friends!" I grinned, meeting his eyes again.

"And… this power of yours… Are you alright about it?" he asked me, concern evident in his eyes.

"… I… don't know… I don't feel any different… What happened was an accident and… I can't explain it, but… I don't feel ashamed of it… I feel like… I know it…" I stopped, thinking of what to say next. I heard Yusei sigh.

"Maybe it's part of who you were…" He coughed. "I mean… who you are. Maybe you had this power before you lost your memories. It just reawakened now," he suggested.

"… That… makes sense… Akiza said that her powers awakened, so why couldn't mine?" I frowned and turned towards him, hoping for some sort of answer.

"Maybe it's better than you don't duel for a while. You need to figure out how all this works. We don't want to risk hurting anyone," he warned me. I nodded, completely unperturbed by his warning. I could do other things to pass my time and I was out of the tournament, anyway. "Um… By the way… Do you know how to sew?" he inquired sheepishly.

It was then that I noticed his clothes. They were torn in various places from the attacks that Akiza had inflicted on him. I sighed and scratched the back of my head.

"Get me a needle and thread and I'll see what I can do. I'm not sure if I can do it, but I know I'll be better at it than the guys I live with…" He grinned.

"Great!" Then his face fell. "Where do I get a needle and thread…?"

"I don't know. Go and find Blister. He knows everything," I told him.

"Uh… Right… See you later…" He made a break for the door.

I sighed again before lying down. I decided to get some rest until Yusei came back. He'd probably be a while.

_Kuroe's P.O.V._

I was walking towards the infirmary to go and see my sister. I had to make her remember me. I just had to. She was my whole world and I finally had her back. I wasn't giving her up that easily and a bad case of amnesia wasn't going to stop me.

I stopped suddenly. The sound of a door opening followed by the click of a walking stick on the ground signalled a familiar presence behind me. A voice spoke. Too familiar to be just a coincidence. I didn't need this.

"… Son…" One simple, heart-breaking word, too full of sadness. Too full of longing.

"… I don't have time for this, Father…" I responded quietly. Thank heavens the corridor was empty because I had a feeling that we'd have a massive argument by the time either of us left.

"I finally found you again, son… Your sister, too… Don't do this…" he begged me.

I whirled around to face him. I suppose that my eyes flashed green like they usually do when I'm angry.

"What does it matter to you?! You _never_ treated us like your children! You treated us as something to take over when you failed! A fail-safe, but never like your own children! She can't even remember your name anymore! She's no longer your concern!" I snapped before I realised what I was saying. He looked slightly surprised before reverting to his almost pitiful yet mostly impassive expression.

"… Then how did this happen to me…?" he asked, his voice eerily quiet. He shifted slightly, removing the weight from his right leg. I glanced at it and briefly recalled the injuries that he had sustained regarding that leg roughly 14 years ago. He continued.

"I got these injuries… protecting you two… Do you remember what I said back then…?" He was still quiet. He never got angry. Not anymore.

"I said to him… that my children were the most precious things in the world to me… I refused to let him hurt either of you… and I protected you… I wanted you both to be reliable as you grew up… People who could look after yourselves when I'm gone… Not a fail-safe for me… I'm sorry if it looked like that…" No yelling. Just that heart-broken voice. "Come home, son… Come home to your mother and I… We can all help out your sister…"

I froze. There was a long pause. "I'm too far gone, Father… My purposes conflict with your own…"

"_It's not too late. You can turn back,"_ came a voice from beside my father.

"This doesn't concern you, Yubel," was my response. The demonic-looking Duel Spirit hovered beside my father. Concern was written across her devilish features. No one said anything for a few seconds.

"… I'm leaving…" I mumbled. Yubel spoke up behind me.

"_Don't let him go, Jaden!"_ she begged my father.

"… I can't stop him…"

Clicking echoed farther down the hall behind me. Father was gone and so was his fighting spirit…

… Good riddance…

_Hikari's P.O.V._

"Well, whaddaya know! Blister DOES know everything!" Yusei exclaimed as he re-entered the room with a needle, a spool of thread and a small pair of scissors. He'd changed into some other, simpler clothes (a simple white t-shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans – Blister's) and set them down beside me.

"Good," was my simple response as I took the needle, thread, scissors and clothes from him.

"… Um… Do you need to concentrate…? Should I go…?" he asked me sheepishly.

"That might be best," I told him without looking at him as I slid the thread through the eye of the needle and set to work. Yusei slipped out of them room and there was silence for 5 minutes. Then the door slid open again.

"I thought I said -" I cut myself off as I glanced towards the door. "Oh. Kuroe. I'm mending my friend's clothes. I'm trying to concentrate," was my blunt statement. He feigned a shocked expression and mock gasped as I turned back towards Yusei's jacket.

"I thought that you would be excited to see your bestest big brother in the world! Oh, woe is me!" I ignored his childish language, his exaggerations and his apostrophising.

"Stop being so childish and melodramatic. I'm concentrating." I narrowed my eyes in concentration, focusing on the needle in my hands. He ignored me and spun the seat beside my bed around before sitting down and leaning his arms on the back of the seat and balancing it on two legs. "You're going to fall…" I warned him, looking at how precarious his position on the chair was.

"So, who are you doing this for?" he inquired, completely ignoring my warning. I sighed.

"My friend Yusei." There was an awkward pause.

"… The Satellite…?" His voice was uneasy.

"Don't start. He's a good man." My statement was blunt and I hoped that he would stop there. I didn't want an argument.

"But -"

"Don't start." He made no more comments about that. There was more silence.

"… So… What makes him so different from other Satellite's?"

"Nothing and they're no different from anyone in the City. That's just a stereotype. There are good people there and there are thugs just like there are here and Yusei is a good man. He's brave and kind and you wouldn't find better here." My voice was monotone. There was no arguing with me. I wouldn't let him.

He was silent as I picked up the scissors and cut off the thread that I didn't need. As I did so, I became aware of his eyes boring holes into me as he stared. Glancing up, I saw that he was staring at me with a mischievous grin.

"You like Yusei… don't you…?" he teased before throwing back his head and laughing, his position on the seat becoming even more precarious.

Instead of bothering with him, I dealt with the problem at hand – my terrible attempt at sewing a hole shut in Yusei's trouser leg. Seeing his position on the chair, I frowned. "You're going to fall…"

_Thud!_

"Ow! I fell!"

I sighed. "I warned you… You should have listened…"

"I will never agree to that! NEVER!" he yelled from the floor, waving his arms around in the air like a madman.

"… I'm ignoring you…"

"… Yeah… I thought as much…" There was silence as he picked himself up off the floor, balancing awkwardly on his chair again.

"If you break your neck doing that, I won't be saving you."

"I thought you weren't talking to me."

"Be quiet. I'm almost done," I mumbled.

My brother sat beside me for a few minutes as if in quiet contemplation. I could feel his eyes never once leaving me as I continued my work, finishing Yusei's trousers and moving on to his t-shirt which received much less damage as it was underneath his thick jacket.

"Hey… Hikari…" he began. My eyebrow raised in curiosity, I turned around, expecting this to be something important. He took a deep breath and continued.

_Kuroe's P.O.V._

After that talk with Father in the hallway, I knew that I had to act quickly. Father may have given up (although it was rather hard to tell with him – he often hides his true intentions far too well, much like I'm prone to do), but, by the sound of Yubel's voice, she had not. Not by a long shot.

After much contemplation, I came to the conclusion that I had to tell her and, after that last duel, this was the perfect time. I needed her on my side – not that of Father's. Everything was riding on her answer to my question. If she didn't agree, then everything was at stake. Steadying my trembling voice, I spoke up.

"Hey… Hikari…" I began. She turned around, her eyebrow raised questioningly. I took a deep breath. "What do you know about… the Arcadia Movement…?"

_5D's_

_Me: *gasps* Is this what I think it is?!_

_Yusei: I dunno. You tell me._

_Me: Hey… Where's Jack…?_

_Yusei: *points* Cowering in the corner._

_Jack: *shivering* Chainsaw… Where did she get… the chainsaw…?!_

_Me: … I think I broke him… Anyway… Please R&R!_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The Stairway to the Dragon Star

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's._

_5D's_

_ Click…_

_ Click…_

_ Click…_

That sound followed me everywhere I went. It always followed me. The sound of clicking and of the pain that radiated from my leg every time I put weight on it. I could never escape the constant clicking and the pain. They both served as a constant reminder of everything I've ever done wrong… Those things are many and I regret them every day of my life…

The one of the first things happened many years ago. It brought this pain into my life…

No… I'm lying to myself… Pain came into my life long before that incident… I hurt those around me… I hurt those who I called my friends and… I killed… I killed so many… Their screams of agony and cries for mercy will forever echo in my head and haunt my dreams…

Sometimes, I wonder if coming back was the right thing. Ever since I did, I've only managed to hurt those around me even more. Now, my only children have abandoned me. Maybe it would have been better… if I had surrendered myself to the darkness so long ago…

"Yubel…" I muttered, gaining the attention of my demonic partner. She turned with a surprised expression as I paused in the hallway, my walking stick clicking to a stop on the peach-tiled floor.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice filled with sympathy.

"… Do you think that it would have been better… if I had just stayed in Dark World instead of coming back…?" My voice was shaking as if I was afraid that she would say yes.

Suddenly, I felt a strong slap on the back of my head. Rubbing it, I turned to her for an explanation. Her translucent form was glaring mischievously at me. "You're still the height of stupidity, Jaden. I hoped that you'd grow out of that," she teased. However, she quickly became serious. "If you hadn't, the world would have burned… how many times, now?"

I became thoughtful. "17," I finally responded before adding, "It would have disappeared another 3 times…"

"See?"

"You didn't help any of those times, though," I smirked slightly.

"You didn't need me!" she retorted, dramatically throwing her arms up in the air as I continued walking, the clicking resuming. I rounded a white-walled corned before heading for the sliding doors that led to the outside world.

"15 out of 20 of those Duels would have finished up faster and wouldn't have cut so close, though," I chuckled as the doors slid open and Yubel and I walked out into the bright sunlight.

_ Click…_

_ Click…_

_ Click…_

That sound followed me everywhere I went…

_Elsewhere…_

_(Hikari's P.O.V.)_

At first, I wasn't really paying much attention to what my brother was telling me, expecting it to turn into something idiotic. That was until I heard those two words. I swallowed heavily, my voice shaking.

"… What…?" I asked hesitantly.

"The Arcadia Movement. Do you know it?" Kuroe repeated, his voice stronger.

"… I do… A… friend of mine belongs to it… What about it…?" I inquired, almost dreading the answer. Suddenly, his arm reached across the bed and he gently placed his hand on mine, squeezing it slightly.

"Hikari…" he began. "You and I… We're different… Won't you come back with me to the Arcadia Movement…?"

My mind went blank as I stared into his pleading eyes. He squeezed my hand comfortingly again, refusing to let go as I moved my hand slightly. All I could think about was Akiza and the state that she was put into after joining that organisation. She became dependant on that man. That leader. She became… violent… Was that organisation really good? Was it really for the good of the people in the organisation?

"I… I don't know…" I stammered, pausing as his face fell. "I'll think about it," I told him hurriedly.

He sighed in relief and stood up and, after giving my hand a pat he walked towards the doors which slid open, allowing him to step out. "I'll leave you alone to think about it, then," he smiled.

"OK… Bye…" I responded, my voice quiet and my tone unsure. He waved slightly, a smile still on his face as the door slid shut behind him and I was left alone with my needle and thread…

_(Kuroe's P.O.V.)_

She didn't reject me. That's good. That's very good. If she hadn't come with me willingly, I would have had to have forced her to come. I didn't like that. I didn't want to force my little sister to have to come with me. I wanted her to be able to make that decision on her own. However, if forcing her to come secured her safety, I would do that without question.

The fact that she had a friend in the Movement was a better outcome than I had expected and, if my hunch was correct, that friend would be a very important asset to the plan that I was hatching as I stood there.

_Flashback…_

_ I had come to visit my sister only to see someone standing outside her door. It was a young woman dressed in a red dress with red hair from what I could see in the darkened corridors. However, I knew almost immediately that the person standing in front of the door was none other than Akiza, the 'poster girl' for the Arcadia Movement and easily the closes person to Sayer – the founder of the organisation._

_ Akiza was standing away from the door so that the sensors for the door wouldn't pick up her presence, causing the door to open. Suddenly, she heaved a great sigh and stepped towards the door. I couldn't see the expression on her face as she did so._

_ The door slid open and she stepped inside. I stood there, wondering whether I should have interrupted them or not. Eventually, the sound of laughter began to emanate from the room. With a wistful smile, I turned away and walked back down the hall, almost as if I wished that I could join them._

_End flashback…_

However, this was certainly not the time for laughing. Something big was about to happen and I quickly needed to ensure the safety of my sister. If I had just been aware of who was walking down another hallway, I wouldn't have left my sister so easily.

The plan of the enemy was in motion…

_(Hikari's P.O.V.)_

I had just placed my needle and thread down after finishing the work on Yusei's clothes when I suddenly found myself gripping my arm in pain. It was the same pain as before. It was that awful throbbing that accompanied the appearance of that mark on my arm. The mark that was that of a Signer's and, yet, was not at the same time. It was an enigma. Aporetic. A paradox. It shouldn't have existed, yet it did.

Just as the red glow of the mark began to seep through my clothes the door slid open. Expecting it to be Yusei, I turned. However, it was not to be. I paused as I saw the familiar looking man who now stood by my bedside looming over me, his hands behind his back in a stately manner. Two other men in black began to approach me from behind their boss.

Just then, everything went black…

Later…

I stirred, the side my face pressing into the cold ground in a manner that was reminiscent of my first memory – waking up in Satellite. Opening my eyes, I noticed that I was bathed in a familiar red light, almost like that of the birthmark on my arm. I could smell damp earth although the ground was not wet. There was no breeze or sound, leading me to think that I was inside. The smell of the earth… Was I underground..?

I sat up, a feeling of lightheadedness hitting me and forcing me to steady myself, lightly gripping my head with one hand as I attempted to remember what had happened. I remembered the hospital room, the mark and… I couldn't remember…

"Ugh…" I moaned as the lightheadedness finally passed and I stood up.

I took a look around myself. Lines ran across the ground, the familiar red light spilling from them. I had a feeling that they formed a picture but, from my position on the ground, I couldn't tell what it might have been. I could see nothing beyond the red lights. The rest of the area was too dark to see.

Turning, my eyes finally fell on the massive structure before me. It lay partially in shadows and partially illuminated by the soft red light. However, even from where I stood – which was rather far away from the building – it was apparent that I was standing in front of some kind of massive temple. That's what it looked like, anyway.

I took a step forwards, trying to get closer to the structure that lay before me when a familiar-sounding male voice suddenly spoke up behind me, its' tone and volume demanding my undivided attention.

"Welcome! What do you think of this place?" the man asked, his voice sounding amicable, yet not without an underlying hint of malice.

I whirled around to see who it was, my grey eyes meeting his pale grey ones which were staring at me, reminding me of cold grey marble. No hint of kindness was visible in them. I took a step back as he partially stepped into the light that the lines on the ground were emitting, his face still in shadows.

"… Who are you…?" I asked, my tone wary.

He simply laughed and took a few more steps forward, his face slowly becoming visible as he was completely illuminated. I gritted my teeth as he continued to walk forwards, tensing up as he passed me and whirling around as he stopped about ten feet behind me.

"It's a magnificent place, is it not? It was built by the People of the Stars, an ancient Inca civilisation. They called this the Stairway to the Dragon Star," the man told me, his eyes lighting up as he informed me of the history of the magnificent temple. "It was made to honour the Dragon Star – the Crimson Dragon."

I frowned. So, it was all to do with the Crimson Dragon. I didn't like the sound of that, although it gave me an idea as to why I was brought there. I took a hesitant step forwards, the frown never once leaving my face.

"So… why did you bring me here…?" I asked him.

"I think you know. You've seen the mark on your arm." He and I both paused. "Am I correct?" he finished. I nodded slowly and he smiled in satisfaction, clapping his hands together. "Wonderful!"

"So, what does my mark have to do with this?" I inquired, trying to push the bad feeling in my chest aside as I did so.

He was silent for a few seconds before finally speaking. "I have a dream. Did you know that?" I shook my head and he continued. "It is my dream to resurrect the Crimson Dragon. For that, though, I need the Signers. In fact, that was the reason that I started the Fortune Cup. I did it to lure the Signers in."

"So, we were just playing into your hands the entire time?!" I shouted, rage suddenly getting the better of me.

"Calm yourself, girl," I frowned before smiling again. "As I was saying, I needed the Signers. However, that would take too long so, not long ago, I devised another plan. You, my dear Hikari, were a part of that plan." He pointed at my arm, smirking wickedly at my confused expression. "That mark on your arm…" he began.

I gripped my arm defensively. "What about it…?" I asked.

"That mark on your arm…" he paused dramatically, his smirk widening as he fiddled with his white hair and straightened his pale grey jacket and trousers before he finally looked at me again. "… That mark is nothing but a fake!"

"F-fake…? What do you mean?!" I snapped.

"It's exactly as I say, dear girl. That mark on your arm is a fake. False. Counterfeit. A sham. Nothing more than a replica… As are you…"

The last statement struck me as odd, the bad feeling rising up in my chest once again, my heart beating rapidly.

"M-me…?" I stammered quietly as his smirk slowly partially became one of pity.

"It is as I said… You are a replica of the original… You are not Hikari… Frankly, how you even know her name perplexes me…" he frowned.

"What are you talking about?! I'm the real Hikari! How could I be anything else?!" I shouted, my voice reverberating and echoing throughout the massive area. Rex was momentarily silent again.

"I have some people who I want you to meet…" he finally told me. I suddenly became aware of several sets of footsteps behind me. I spun around to be met with a terrifying sight.

"These, my dear girl, are clones of the original. I suppose that they are also your sisters, seeing as you are all clones…" he stated from behind me.

I had found myself staring into the eyes of… myself… Four versions of myself actually… The same eyes… The same face… The same hair… Even the same clothes…! My heartbeat quickened in my chest as the man's words sunk in and reality dawned on me. It was all I could do not to cry.

I wasn't real.

I would never be real.

… The man… Rex Goodwin… was telling the truth…


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Alpha

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's._

_5D's_

"Clone… I'm a… clone…" I murmured in disbelief.

Everything I knew was a lie. My name wasn't even mine. What was my real name? Did I even have one? I suppressed my tears, unwilling to show weakness to the man who had shattered the tiny bubble that I had been living inside.

"These are Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta," Goodwin told me, gesturing to each one in turn from our left to right. "You are the fifth clone that we created, designed to bear the fifth artificial mark, just as your sisters bear the other four."

There was silence. When I finally spoke up, my voice was shaking and barely audible. "… What happened to the real one…? The real Hikari, I mean…"

"We… subjected her to a few tests… We wanted to test her capabilities… She didn't make it…" he told me, his voice slow. "… You gained self-awareness around the time of your death… You are not Hikari… You belong here… With your siblings…"

I couldn't believe him for one instant. After hearing the malice in his voice earlier, how could I have? I saw the blank stares that my sisters were giving me. There was nothing in there. They didn't even have their own minds. How did I belong there? The answer was simple…

I didn't.

I turned towards Goodwin and slowly looked him in the eyes. "What you have made are not human… They look human and they function like humans, but they have no minds… No souls… You're trying to tell me that my place is with soulless shells…? No… I may be a clone, but… I'm real! I deserve to have a life! I deserve to live freely and not in some lab!" I activated my Duel Disk. "… If you want me to stay… you'll have to make me!" I bellowed.

To my surprise, Goodwin threw back his head and laughed. "Of course! Of course! However… you're going to need to defeat your sisters here, first…" His voice became quiet. Eerie, even.

He suddenly gestured towards the first clone – Alpha. She stepped forwards and raised her Duel Disk. I wasn't getting out of this one without a fight… Not that I had expected to leave without a fight, anyway…

"Duel…" Alpha commanded in a hollow, empty voice.

I winced. Her voice sounded like mine as well. However, we were not the same. We would never be the same. I stepped towards her, my Duel Disk still activated. I drew 5 cards and, with my voice as calm as I would ever get it, I spoke.

"Duel!" I called.

Alpha immediately drew 5 cards at the sound of my confirmation. Before I could do anything, she had already decided who would take the first move. She drew a sixth card and looked at her hand as if she was thinking long and hard. She finally picked a card up.

**(Hikari: 4000/Alpha: 4000)**

"I activate the Field Spell Zombie World…" She stopped speaking as the field darkened, slowly becoming shrouded in a light yet eerie fog. Gnarled, decaying trees slowly raised up from the ground with loud, unnerving creaks, intertwining with each other and surrounding us, hiding us from the preying eyes of Rex Goodwin.

Skulls, spines, ribcages and other bones and decaying Monster carcases, the bones yellow with age and with mould and other decaying vegetation snaking up and around the bones and carcases in places, threatening to consume them and hide them away from the world for the rest of eternity all began to form on the ground right near my feet and I stepped backwards slightly, my instincts telling me to avoid what I knew was little more than a convincing hologram. As everything ceased to creak, crack and groan, an unnatural silence descended upon the area.

However, something struck me as odd and I frowned. Didn't one usually explain the card effects when they activated them? Did she even know what she was doing? How far did her skills even go? Would she prove a challenge?

"You may need to explain the card effects for her, Alpha," Goodwin told the clone from outside the Field Spell, his voice echoing around us. It took a few seconds for the mindless clone to process, but she eventually spoke again.

"Affirmative… All monsters on the field and in every Graveyard become Zombie-Type monsters… Neither player can Tribute Summon monsters, except Zombie-Type monsters…" she droned. By the wording, I knew that she was simply reading it off the card instead of actually applying it to herself and me, although I had to wonder about how she did it without looking at the cards. How much information did she retain?

"… I Summon Pyramid Turtle **(ATK: 1200 DEF: 1400)** in Attack Mode…" Alpha stated as a large sand-coloured turtle sporting a massive pyramid on its' back as opposed to a shell took to the field with a flash of light, stretching its' neck out with an odd, croaky moan. It was adorned with a green, blue, red and orange headdress, the colours mixing beautifully, and it also wore a green false beard on its' chin. "… I place one card face-down and end my turn…"

**(Hikari: 4000/Alpha: 4000)**

"Alright, then! I draw!" I quickly pulled a card from my deck and added it to my hand before appraising my cards. I'd had better, but they'd do. It was enough to defeat my opponents monster.

However, something had been bothering me. Why would anyone place such a monster in Attack Mode? It was weak. That only meant that it had some kind of Effect. I didn't like that, but the monster had to be gotten rid of. If I didn't, she may have Sacrificed it or Synchro Summoned something with it.

"I Summon Absorbing Kid from the Sky **(1300/1000)**!" I called, gesturing towards the field as a small, chubby, black-haired child with angel wings appeared on the field wearing a sleeveless white t-shirt and black shorts, both of which barely fitted him, his stomach visibly hanging out. His sandaled feet touched the ground with a light tap as he touched down, crossing his arms. He wasn't to wait for long like that, though. "Attack her Pyramid Turtle!"

Absorbing Kid suddenly took off at a speed that was faster than anyone could have expected as it headed straight towards the opposing monster. In a flurry of feathers, the rosy-cheeked child slammed into the pyramid on the turtle's back using his arm, causing many cracks to appear. Eventually, the pyramid collapsed and, with a final moan, Pyramid Turtle exploded into shards of light as Absorbing Kid returned to my side of the field, his arms crossed once again.

However, to my confusion, the light that had once been Pyramid Turtle's body was still lingering on the field, floating around as if it was waiting for something. I looked at my opponent for an explanation.

"… Pyramid Turtle's Effect activates…" Just then, a card popped out of her deck. She removed it and continued to speak. "… When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 Zombie-Type monster with 2000 or less DEF from your Deck…"

Again, she was simply reading the effect from the card instead of applying it to herself. I watched as she placed the card on her Duel Disk and the lights rearranged to form a tall, gaunt figure who was wearing rags. Its' long grey hair fell in dirty strands over its' head and it let out a deafening, unearthly shriek, its' blank, dead eyes staring dully, not reflecting the wide, maniacal grin that split its' features. I felt a chill run up my spine.

"I Special Summon Zombie Master **(ATK: 1800 DEF: 0)**…" she droned again.

Despite being annoyed that such a powerful monster had been Summoned, I had a back-up plan that would ensure that my Life Points wouldn't be damaged as much during the next turn. I gestured towards my monster.

"I activate my Absorbing Kid's Effect! I gain Life Points equal to the Level of your destroyed Monster x 300! That's 1200 Life Points!" I called out as a shimmering light surrounded my body and my Life Points quickly increased. I looked down at my hand, ensuring that there was nothing more that I could have done. Seeing nothing, I looked back at my opponent. "I end my turn."

**(Hikari: 5200/Alpha: 3900)**

Alpha slowly reached for her deck before drawing a card. "… Draw…" Adding the card to her hand, she took another long look at her hand as she had before. "… Zombie Master's Effect activates… Once per turn: You can send 1 monster from your hand to the Graveyard, then target 1 Level 4 or lower Zombie-Type monster in either player's Graveyard; Special Summon that target. This card must be face-up on the field to activate and to resolve this effect…"

She was even saying the parts of the card that weren't necessary and she still wasn't reading her cards when she explained their Effects, either. To even remember the unnecessary parts… Just what was she? What was she capable of? Despite her seemingly-basic skills, I had a feeling that something deeper was going on.

"… I Summon Pyramid Turtle…" She discarded a card and the ground split open with a loud rumble and the familiar turtle crawled out of the earth, the ground sliding shut afterwards. Over the noise, the turtle could be heard moaning. As the noise stopped, Alpha spoke in her quiet, empty voice. "… Attack, Zombie Master…"

Zombie Master raised its' grey, bony arms and let out a shriek, its' hair and ragged clothing blowing back with the force of the attack, its' already-maniacal grin growing into one of inhuman proportions as its' facial muscles stretched farther than anything that I had ever originally thought possible. I clapped my hands over my ears as the ground suddenly split open beneath Absorbing Kid who attempted to flee in a flurry of feathers. However, it was not to be as bony arms suddenly launched out of the ground, dragging the struggling, terrified monster to its' doom as the creatures in the depths moaned and groaned hungrily. As the monster slowly disappeared beneath the ground, scratching at the earth in a futile attempt at prolonging the inevitable, it exploded with a final terror-stricken cry and the ground slowly slid shut with a loud crash.

Despite willing myself not to, I couldn't help but shake as my Life Points dropped. I removed my quivering hands from my ears, willing myself to stop shaking. I felt sick. I had never seen such a look of horror and terror on any of my monster's faces before. It was a brutal way to go. I shifted my position slightly in attempt to relax, but it only served to agitate me further as my foot scraped across the ground slightly as I shuffled it, making a noise that I had not prepared myself for and I jumped slightly. I attempted to force the feeling away as Alpha spoke again, giving me no time to relax.

"… Attack, Pyramid Turtle…"

Pyramid Turtle's attack was one that I could take. I slowly reared its' head back and let out a long, low, rumbling moan, the sound waves of the attack rippling across the field and heading straight towards me. The attack hit, blowing my hair back with the force of the sound waves. It eventually died down and my Life Points dropped.

"… I end my turn…"

**(Hikari: 3500/Alpha: 3900)**

"A-alright! I-I draw!" I stammered. I gritted my teeth, hoping for a good card and drew. I stared at the card and frowned. It was worth a shot. I placed it into my Duel Disk and spoke. "I activate the Spell Card Magical Mallet! With this card, I can shuffle any amount of cards from my hand back into my deck and draw the same number of cards! I send three cards back to my deck!" I announced as I fed the cards back into my deck. My Duel Disk shuffled them for me and I drew the cards.

The draw that I had wasn't all that bad. It would let me survive, at least. I couldn't take down Zombie Master, but it wouldn't have been able to destroy the monster that I drew, either. It was as good a position to be in as any.

"I Summon Milla the Temporal Magician **(ATK: 1800 DEF: 1000)** in Attack Mode!" I called as a beautiful woman with white hair walked onto the field through what appeared to be a portal that shimmered in all the colours of the rainbow, the surface of the portal rippling as she stepped through it. It quickly closed behind her.

She was dressed in a white sleeveless t-shirt with a long, trailing sleeve that was attached to a large golden bracelet that adorned the slender biceps of her left arm. Two large golden bangles dangled from her right wrist. She wore a pair of dark brown leather shorts with crisscrossing leather belts of the same colour, their buckles made out of gold. A large necklace that appeared to be made from amber or a similar substance hung from her neck on a long string.

As she took her place on my side of the field, she held out her left arm and stuck the rod of a large, intricate golden staff into the ground. A powerful wind was whipped up as she did so, ruffling her short white hair with long bangs, her golden headband ultimately keeping it all in place. Her deep blue eyes stared at the opposing monsters, her face bearing a disinterested expression.

"I activate Milla's Effect! When I Summon her, I can look at one of your face-down Spell or Trap Cards," I informed her, although I doubted whether she needed it or not. I wordlessly pointed at her face-down card which flipped face-up to reveal a Trap Card that depicted an odd-looking Pharaoh's death mask. I read the name – Tutan Mask. That negated and destroyed Spell and Trap Cards that target a Zombie monster. At least, that's what the card said before it quickly flipped back down.

"Milla, attack her Pyramid Turtle!" I ordered, gesturing towards the turtle. Never losing her disinterested expression, Milla simply lifted her staff and pointed it at Pyramid Turtle. The staff began to release some form of psychic waves which headed towards the turtle. I watched as time seemed to speed up for the turtle as it slowly greyed with age, cracks appearing in its' pyramid. Eventually, it wasted away, turning to dust as Alpha's Life Points dropped.

"… I activate Pyramid Turtle's Effect… I Summon Zombie Master…" she spoke as another Zombie Master appeared on the field through a crack in the earth, dragging itself onto the field in a way that its' 'friend' had not been able to do. It let out an unearthly wail, much like the first Zombie Master on the field. I wasn't bothered. I had a plan.

"I place two cards face-down and end my turn," I told her as I slid two cards into my Duel Disk. Before they had even materialised on the field, Alpha had already drawn a card.

**(Hikari: 3500/Alpha: 3100)**

"… I draw…" She stared at what she had drawn. "… I activate Terraforming… I take one Field Spell from my deck and I choose Zombie World…"

'No surprises there…' I thought to myself. The card was no use as it was as she already had a Zombie World Field Spell in effect. I could only guess that it was for compensation, almost as if she was making sure that she had back up if the first Field Spell Card was destroyed.

"… I activate my Zombie Master's Effect… I Summon Pyramid Turtle…" She discarded a card and Pyramid Turtle reappeared from the earth again. I briefly wondered why she hadn't taken any monsters from my Graveyard through the effect of Zombie World. I was pretty sure that it made the monsters in my Graveyard Zombies. Either she didn't need them or she didn't have sufficient Monster Cards to Summon them.

"… Zombie Master attacks Milla the Temporal Magician…"

I frowned. She was going to sacrifice one of her monsters in order to attack me directly later. I wasn't about to let that happen. I gestured towards my Trap Card. "I activate Mirror Force!" I suddenly shouted as my card flipped face-up. Tutan Mask only worked when one Zombie-Type monster was targeted.

As expected, she didn't respond. Zombie Master screamed as a shield of energy surrounded Milla. The sound waves from the scream hit the shield and were redirected back at all of the monsters on Alpha's side of the field. The ground suddenly split open beneath them and her terrified monsters – all except the two Zombie Masters who never lost their maniacal grins and never once struggled as they were pulled beneath the earth, fated to be destroyed by their own comrades who had been turned against them – were obliterated, shattering into shards of light as the ground slid shut. She stood still for a few seconds as if she was processing the information. Then, her eyes surveyed the field and her hand. She looked back towards me.

"… I end my turn…" she finally stated.

"My turn! I draw!" I drew and looked back at my opponent and her unreadable expression. How could she keep calm when she was about to lose? I shook my head and placed a monster on my Duel Disk. "I Summon Asura Priest **(ATK: 1700 DEF: 1200)** in Attack Mode!" I watched as a blue man with six arms appeared on my side of the field, his arms and neck adorned with golden jewellery and his hair, a darker blue than his skin was tied up with red string. A crimson cape was draped over his right shoulder and fell about his waist in folds.

"Attack her directly!" I commanded, gesturing towards both of my monsters. Milla's staff began to emit psychic waves which were aimed at Alpha while Asura Priest moved in at a high speed before delivering punch after punch with his six arms, each blow almost invisible to the naked eye. Alpha's Life Points dropped dramatically and she was knocked to the ground.

**(Hikari: 3500/Alpha: 0)**

The monsters on the field, in our hands and in our Graveyards and Zombie World all slowly faded from existence and our cards returned to our decks. However, my Life Points had not returned to 4000. They remained at 3500. I didn't mind, though. I had won. I was free. I took the time to breathe a sigh of relief as Alpha slowly stood up and walked over to her sisters, her steps as slow and mechanical as the Zombies that she used.

What I wasn't expecting was for Beta to take her place…


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Beta

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's._

_5D's_

"B-but… I defeated Alpha! You have to let me go! You promised!" I stammered.

"I promised nothing, dear girl. I said that you merely had to Duel," he smiled as if he was doing nothing wrong.

"But, this is unfair! It's four against one and my Life Points aren't replenishing!" I complained, hoping that he would see sense. Unfortunately, he didn't.

"I need you to Duel them all," I told me, his vague sentence conveying that he was clearly hiding something.

"Then, why should I?"

"It's simple…" he chuckled. "Your freedom is on the line."

"… Duel…" Beta droned behind me, dragging my attention back to her. I gritted my teeth in annoyance before calming myself slightly.

'_It's OK. I'm only 500 Life Points down. Since I probably have to Duel all of them I just need to make sure that I don't lose from now on. If things go like the last Duel, I'll be fine…'_ I thought to myself as I raised my still-activated Duel Disk.

"Alright, then… I have no choice…" I drew five cards. "Duel!"

**(Hikari: 3500/Beta: 4000)**

As expected, Beta did not waste time in taking the first turn, much like Alpha had. "… Draw…" she mumbled as she drew a card and then stared at her hand as if processing it like a robot. She finally lifted a card and placed it on her Duel Disk. "… I Summon Pilgrim of the Ice Barrier **(ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000)** in Attack Mode…"

I watched as a man with blond hair appeared on the field in a flash of light. He wore a red shirt with gold trimmings and intricate gold patterns that reached his knees and some form of puffy white clothing was wound around his shoulders and his waist. He wore a purple undershirt and blue beads were wrapped around his neck and waist. Tattoos snaked up his arms which also bore a yellow bracelet around each bicep and two larger ones with intricate patterns that reached from his wrists to just below his elbows. A whitish-blue gem shone on his forehead and, as he stepped onto the field, he pressed his hands together and closed his eyes, bowing his head as if he was praying.

"… I activate Wetlands…" she stated as the Field Spell slot on her Duel Disk opened. She slid the card inside and the slot slid shut again. The field changed instantaneously. The ground suddenly appeared to become softer underneath our feet and a large field of grass sprang up. Rain began to beat down heavily, yet we were not soaked by the hologram.

In this situation, I had to admit that the sound of the rain was rather calming and pleasant to listen to. I found myself relaxing in the knowledge that she could not yet use the effect of the card and that it was likely that it wouldn't do much anyway. Not with the cards that I had in my hand. If all went according to plan, I wouldn't lose two much in the way of Life Points, either. As long as I could prevent her from Summoning a powerful monster, everything would turn out alright.

"… I end my turn…" she stated.

"My turn! I draw!" I called out as I drew a card and added it to my hand. I picked up another card and placed it on my Duel Disk. "I Summon Dunames Dark Witch **(ATK: 1800 DEF: 1050)** in Attack Mode!"

With a flash of light, a young woman with purple hair and stylised angel wings with blue jewels set into them stepped onto the field, her hands spread out slightly from her sides with her palms facing the opponent. Her headdress, shoulder pads, gloves, skirt and boots all had a similar design aside from the fact that her shoulder pads had red jewels as opposed to blue ones and a green jewel was set in the middle of her headdress and another was set into a necklace that was wound around her neck. She wore red and purple armour which covered her torso and the bottom of which sat over the top of her skirt.

"Dunames, attack her Pilgrim!" I ordered.

Dunames lifted her hands up in front of her, pressing the sides together and pointing her palms at Beta's monster. Suddenly, the jewels all over her body began to glitter slightly and an orb of blue, shimmering energy began to grow in her hands. With a few seconds, a beam was fired, the orb being the source. The beam hit the monster in the chest and, with a final cry of pain, it shattered into shards of light and disappeared.

"I place one card face down and end my turn," I stated as I place a card in the Spell and Trap Card zone.

**(Hikari: 3500/Beta: 3700)**

"… My turn… Draw…" Beta slowly drew her card and stared at it before placing in face-down on her Duel Disk. "… I place one card face-down…" As the face-down monster card appeared on the field, she looked at her hand. "… I place one card face-down…" she echoed as a card materialised in the Spell and Trap Card zone. "… I end my turn…"

I couldn't help but smirk. It looked like I was going to get a direct attack in if my next draw went well. I placed my fingers on my Deck and drew a card. If I was worried about my opponent comprehending what my expression meant, I wouldn't have smiled like I did then. I took the card and placed it on my Duel Disk.

"I Summon Aurora Paragon **(ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000)** in Attack Mode!" I called out as my new monster emerged on the field in a flash of light that was befitting of its Attribute.

The monster was a tall man with angelic white wings, shining golden armour with shoulder spikes and red gems set into the shoulders, gauntlets and on the stomach and white hair flowed from the monster's head. The whole entity shimmered as an aurora followed it onto the field, bathing it in multi-coloured light.

"Aurora Paragon!" I shouted. "Attack her face-down monster!"

Aurora Paragon immediately complied and shot forward on his white wings, feathers lightly scattering and floating to the ground before delicately bursting into sparkles of light which floated upwards and disappeared into thin air.

The monster raised his fist and brought it down onto Beta's face-down card in one swift movement before launching himself over to my side of the field just as the card flipped up to reveal the face-down monster.

From the card, one of the most beautiful monsters that I had ever seen flew from the card in a shower of blue, glittering sparkles surrounding it and slowly floating from its wings towards the ground which I could almost instantly tell were tiny ice crystals after the true nature of the card was revealed.

The monster itself was a whitish-blue-coloured phoenix-like creature, its shimmering feathers making a crest on its head that was hidden behind a golden crown of sorts with cerulean blue sides, a snowflake-like pendant hanging from the adornment. A trail of glittering feathers swept from its body and danced in the freezing breeze that its body constantly exuded, making them swirl like wisps of steam as warm breath would create when it hit the cold air.

Cerulean blue armour with snowflake-like buckles was tied around its abdomen with pink straps and armour of the same colour was tied around its ice-like talons, a large spike of ice jutting up from the middle of either foot. Blue wings with peacock-like feathers that looked almost as though they were made from ice flapped frantically as its icy blue eyes flashed and its ice-like beak opened, letting out a song-like cry before it burst into shards of light and disappeared.

Choosing not to lament for the destruction of the beautiful monster, I pressed on and gestured towards Beta with my hand. However, before I could order Dunames to attack, Beta interrupted, slowly bringing a hand up to her deck and finally identifying the monster as she did so in her usual monotone voice.

"… When Blizzed, Defender of the Ice Barrier is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, I can draw one card…" she stated as she slowly drew a card from her deck and added it to her hand, her expression never changing as if she didn't even realise the predicament that she was in.

In fact, I noted that Beta was doing just what I perceived all of the clones to be doing – simply reading from the card and using it without properly comprehending what they were doing, almost like a machine that was programmed to Duel and nothing more. A machine that looked… just like me…

I quickly pushed that notion from my head and, once again, gestured towards Beta, concentrating on the direct attack that would surely follow as long as that trap card was not activated the moment I attacked, but if it hadn't already been activated during my last attack, it didn't seem likely that it would activate then, although Blizzed's effect may have been a good reason for it not being activated. I still decided that I would push my luck and press onward.

"Dunames! Attack Beta directly!" I ordered.

Dunames immediately shot her beam of shimmering light at Beta. It struck home and, although Beta was knocked over, she gave no indication that she had even noticed this as she slowly stood back up again and raised her Duel Disk, ready to continue.

Choosing to ignore her lack of emotion, I glanced back down at my hand, briefly noting that there was nothing more that I could do. I glanced back up and stared Beta in the eye, although I doubt that she registered it at all.

"I end my turn," I stated as calmly as I could in my current situation, lowering my Duel Disk to my side as I did so.

**(Hikari: 3500/Beta: 1900)**

"… My turn… I draw…" I watched as Beta slowly drew her card before placing it in her hand. She stared at the cards before lifting the very card that she had just drawn. "… I place one card face-down… I end my turn…"

"Alright! I draw!" I called, wasting no time as I drew a new card which was one that I played immediately upon seeing it. "I activate Shield Crush and I'll destroy your face-down monster!"

The card flipped over and another Blizzed flew out, the bird instantaneously exploding before it could cry out and kicking up a cloud of dust as the shards of light that had once made up the monster began to disappear. I quickly moved on.

"Dunames! Aurora Paragon! Attack her directly!"

Within seconds, an explosion occurred on the other side of the field as the attacks of Dunames and Aurora Paragon both connected and, behind a cloud of dust, mud and damp grass, I could vaguely glimpse Beta being knocked backwards and onto the ground, some cards flying off her Duel Disk as she landed.

As the Field Spell slowly began to disappear, I noticed one of the cards on the ground that had fallen from Beta's Duel Disk. It was a Trap Card of sorts. What made me strain to get a better look, I'll never know, but what I saw made me freeze in place. The card depicted a force field that was deflecting an attack.

… Mirror Force…

My mind raced. If that was in her Duel Disk, she could have destroyed my monsters and any moment and dealt a direct attack to me on her next turn. But, if she could have… why didn't she…? As I continued to ponder this, I could only come to one conclusion that made my heart skip a beat in excitement.

While these clones were programmed to Duel and only to Duel, they had a flaw. This flaw was their intelligence – or, lack thereof. Simply put, they knew what the cards were and knew what they were to do with them, but certain strategies and card effects escaped them. Perhaps they didn't even remember that they had placed the card. After all, they apparently had no memory to store that information in.

As Gamma dutifully stepped forwards, ignoring Beta as she slowly picked up after herself and left the field, her defeat already somewhat acknowledged in what little mind she had, I was left to ponder about my own situation for a few moments.

If they had no intelligence, why did I possess it? What made me so different? If I could find out what that secret was, could I possibly save my… Dare I even think it…? Could I possibly save… my sisters…? Of course, even somewhat acknowledging that fact still made me feel uneasy as I thought back to the events of the past few days.

Yusei… What would he think about this…? Would he still want to be friends with me…? What about Akiza? What about the twins? What about… that man…? The one who called himself my brother… What could I possibly say to him…?

… Could I ever face any of them again…?


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Gamma

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's._

_5D's_

I watched as Gamma took her position and raised her Duel Disk, staring at me as if she was waiting for confirmation that I would, indeed, Duel her at all. I slowly raised my Duel Disk, ready to meet the challenge as I met her eyes, staring into their cold, empty depths as she stood as still as a statue.

"Duel!" I called out, watching as she began to move, drawing her hand. I did the same.

"… Duel…" she droned, quickly drawing another card before she could react, just like the others.

(**Hikari: 3500/Gamma: 4000**)

"… Draw…" She stared at the card and glanced at her hand before placing the card on her Duel Disk. "… I Summon Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress (**ATK: 1700 DEF: 200**) in Attack Mode…"

Almost immediately, a flash of light brought the first monster of the Duel to the field. As the light died down, I was able to see a tall, slender woman dressed in white robes with gold trimming and intricate designs step onto the field. Two bracelets on either arm – one around her upper arm and one around her wrist – held her long sleeves in place and a golden headdress lay upon her soft, shiny black hair. She held a shimmering golden staff in her left hand, the top of which glowed with a piercing light that forced me to look away.

"… I end my turn…"

(**Hikari: 3500/Gamma: 4000**)

"Alright, then! I draw!" I quickly drew a card and, with a glance, a placed in into my hand and looked over my other cards. Finally settling on a monster, I placed it onto my Duel Disk. "I Summon Dunames Dark Witch (**ATK: 1800 DEF: 1050**) in Attack Mode!" I shouted out as my monster appeared on the field just as she had in my previous Duel.

With a flash of light, a young, purple-haired woman with stylised angel wings stepped onto the field in the same position as she had before, her armour clinking slightly as she settled into place on my side of the field, her eyes seeming to fall on Lyla as she did so.

"Dunames! Attack her Sorceress!" I ordered.

Almost immediately, Dunames had fired off her familiar beam of energy which struck Lyla in the centre of her chest, knocking her back. With a scream of pain, she shattered into shards of light which slowly faded away as a cloud of dust that was kicked up upon impact slowly settled to the ground again. I kept going.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn!" I finished, settling back into a relaxed position.

(**Hikari: 3500/Gamma: 3900**)

"… My turn… I draw…" Gamma drew a card, repeating the same ritual as before – staring at it, putting it in her hand and slowly picking up another card before placing it in her Duel Disk. This time, however, it went into the Spell and Trap Card Zone.

A Spell Card quickly popped up on the field, its card image showing a strange blue object with a red gemstone set in the centre. Something that either looked like a blade or a piece of crystal extended from the bottom. Its card name was incredibly familiar and I couldn't help but feel that she had a plan of sorts.

"… I activate Monster Reborn… Target 1 monster in either player's Graveyard; Special Summon it… I Summon Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress in Defence Mode…" Gamma stated slowly, reading from the card just as her sisters had.

I watched as the familiar monster that I had just destroyed delicately stepped onto the field once more, kneeling and crossing her arms over her chest, her staff which lost its glow still in her hand as she turned a blue colour, indicating that she was in Defence Mode. Gamma continued.

"… I Sacrifice Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress to Summon Celestia, Lightsworn Angel (**ATK: 2300 DEF: 200**)…" She slowly placed her new Monster Card onto her Duel Disk.

I had to shield my eyes as a piercing light shone over the entire battlefield from above Gamma and, as the light began to die, an angelic form slowly began to descend onto the field. Shimmering white wings parted and spread wide in a flurry of feathers, revealing a tall, armoured woman with long, silky blue hair that was tied into a low ponytail with a golden, cylindrical clip.

White, jewelled armour with intricate gold designs and trimming covered her body and a long, trailing skirt draped down her legs to her ankles, partially covering her white boots which were covered in intricate gold designs which were similar to the ones on her armour.

She wore two rings on each hand which covered a pair of frilly, laced, white gloves and held a white and gold staff in her right hand. A small orb that floated in the head of the staff shone brightly. With the small blue cylinders that were hanging down from the large, circular head of the staff which tinkled as the staff was moved, I was left to presume that it was some sort of shakujō.

Celestia slowly approached the ground, but her feet never touched it, her wings flapping gently every few seconds, keeping her airborne mere centimetres from the ground, feathers slowly floating from her wings to the ground as her wings flapped. The feathers, upon touching the ground, burst into tiny sparkles of light which floated upwards and disappeared.

"… When you Tribute Summon this card by Tributing a "Lightsworn" monster: You can send the top 4 cards of your Deck to the Graveyard, then target up to 2 cards your opponent controls; destroy those targets…" Gamma continued, reading from her new monster's card.

Gamma placed the top four cards from her Deck into the Graveyard, just like her card had told her that she could and slowly raised her hand and pointed at two of my cards – Dunames and my face-down Trap Card.

I watched as Celestia raised her staff and the light at the head of the staff quickly began to brighten. I covered my eyes with my arms as the light grew incredibly harsh, wincing as I heard Dunames scream and explode and my Trap Card flipped face-up, revealing Mirror Force which quickly followed Dunames' lead and shattered.

The light dimmed and I removed my arms from their position in front of my face, letting them hang in front of my stomach as I watched the shards of light that were the remnants of my cards slowly fade away. Letting my arms fall by my sides as a relaxed, I slowly found myself tensing up again as Gamma gave her next order.

"… Celestia, Lightsworn Angel… Attack…" she droned.

My arms immediately flew up in front of my face as Celestia's staff brightened once more and I felt gravity weighing down on my, pushing me to my knees. As the light faded, I let my arms drop to the ground to support me as I knelt there with steam rising slowly from my shaking body from the attack, my Life Points dropping as it did so.

"… I end my turn…" Gamma stated, freezing in place as she waited for her turn.

(**Hikari: 1200/Gamma: 3900**)

I slowly stood, my body still shaking slightly as I eyed my Life Point counter. It was dangerously low… There was no room for me to lose any more Life Points. The steam finally stopped rising from my body as I reached for my deck, my mind already set on a plan.

"My turn! I draw!" I drew a card and immediately played it, pleased with the amount of Attack Points it had. "I Summon Apocatequil (**ATK: 1800 DEF: 1200**) in Attack Mode!"

I watched as the familiar tiny, wooden, tiki-like creature with a yellow, rake-like staff, white robes and golden anklets hopped onto the field. I removed another card from my hand. My plan wasn't finished yet.

"I activate the Equip Spell Card Axe of Despair and I equip it to my Apocatequil!" I declared as I placed the Spell Card onto my Duel Disk.

The card popped up behind Apocatequil and began to shine. Almost immediately, the staff in Apocatequil's hand began to shine with a bright white light and started to morph into another shape. When the light died down, the staff had been replaced by a sharp axe with a gnarled handle that glinted dangerously in the light of Celestia's staff.

I gestured towards Apocatequil. "With this card, I can raise the Attack Points of Apocatequil by 1000!" (**ATK: 2800**)

Next, I pulled another card from my hand and placed in in the Spell and Trap Card zone. The card popped up on the field and began to shine slightly. I raised my arm and gestured towards the Spell Card that I had just activated.

"I activate Double Attack! With this card, a monster of my choosing gains the ability to attack twice this turn! I choose my Apocatequil!" I informed her.

I watched as the soft glow that had initially surrounded the card slowly drifted away from the card and surrounded Apocatequil who began to glow slightly before taking a battle stance, ready to attack. I threw my arm out towards my opponent's monster, my eyes now glued to Celestia.

"Apocatequil!" I shouted. "Attack Celestia and then move in for a direct attack!"

Apocatequil immediately complied. The tiny creature who looked no more powerful than it had before immediately jumped forwards, the Axe of Despair held high above its head. Gamma seemed to ignore the implication of what the attack meant as Apocatequil cleaved Celestia in half who let out a final shriek of pain and despair before shattering into shards of light with an explosion that kicked up a cloud of dust.

Out of the dust, Apocatequil sprang forwards, the Axe of Despair at the ready. Within seconds, it was brought down on Gamma who collapsed to the ground, her face still as emotionless as ever as she slowly stood up covered in dust, her Life Points falling quickly as Apocatequil returned to my side of the field. Glancing at my hand, I determined that there was nothing more that I could do.

"I end my turn," I stated calmly, now slightly happier regarding the direction that the Duel was going.

(**Hikari: 1200/Gamma: 600**)

"… My turn… I draw…" Gamma stared down at her hand as she placed the new card into it before picking it back up again and placing it on her Duel Disk. "… I place one card face-down…" The face-down monster appeared on the field as she reached for another card. "… I place one card face-down…" she repeated as another face-down card appeared in her Spell and Trap Card zone. "… I end my turn…"

(Jain, Lightsworn Paladin (**ATK: 1800 DEF: 1200**))

(**Hikari: 1200/Gamma: 600**)

"My turn! I draw!" Just as I drew my card, Gamma suddenly spoke up, interrupting my train of thought.

"… I activate Dust Tornado…" Gamma droned as her Trap Card that depicted a tornado and the feathers that it had picked up on its path of destruction flipped face-up. "… Target 1 Spell/Trap Card your opponent controls; destroy that target, then you can Set 1 Spell/Trap Card from your hand…"

Just as I had expected her to do, she pointed straight at the Axe of Despair card behind my Apocatequil. The card quickly shattered into shards of light, the weapon that Apocatequil was holding following shortly after, the shards of which reformed Apocatequil's original staff.

Despite the minor setback, I continued on, placing a card onto my Duel Disk which quickly popped up in my Spell and Trap Card zone. It depicted a cracked and crumbling shield that had been shattered by the green beam of light that had been shot through its centre.

"I activate the Spell Card Shield Crush!" I declared. "With this card, I can destroy one of your Defence Position monsters!"

I pointed towards her only face-down monster and watched as the card flipped up to reveal a young white-haired man in silver armour that was covered in intricate gold designs, a form of crown hidden beneath his bangs. A similar shield was held tightly in his left hand and a shining sword was held in his right. A silver cape with red lining fluttered in the wind as the same green beam of light on the card shot forth from the card itself.

The monster – Jain, Lightsworn Paladin, as the card stated – quickly raised his shield only to quickly find it useless. The crouching monster's shield was obliterated in seconds and, with a scream of pain, he soon followed in a small explosion as he shattered into shards of light and disappeared.

"Finish this, Apocatequil!" I ordered, gesturing towards Gamma. "Attack Gamma directly!"

I watched as Apocatequil sprang forwards, quickly bringing its wooden, rake-like staff down onto Gamma's head, knocking her down as it did so. Gamma slowly picked herself up for the second time during the Duel only to dully note that the Duel was, indeed, over.

(**Hikari: 1200/Gamma: 0**)

I sighed to myself. That was one more Duel out of the way. There was only one more to go. As I watched Gamma slowly leave the field and Delta make her way onto the field before me, I glanced back at my captor – Rex Goodwin – who stood to behind Delta beside the other three clones, a somewhat serene smile crossing his features, almost as if some kind of victory was being gained from what I was doing. I narrowed my eyes and gritted my teeth.

"What are you getting from this, Goodwin?! What does me Duelling them get you?! How is a fake mark going to resurrect the Crimson Dragon?!" I growled, my clenched fists shaking in anger as I watched him begin to smile further.

"If I told you, I'm afraid that you wouldn't be able to comprehend it…" he smirked, his amicable-sounding voice only serving to make me even more frustrated.

"Tell me, Goodwin! If I'm going to be a pawn in one of your little plans, I have the right to know!" I shouted.

Goodwin simply chuckled. "This Duel is your fate! Your fate is to summon the Crimson Dragon to this world, just like the Signers did in the past!"

"So… these Duels are also part of your plan…?" I grunted.

"Certainly! I have plenty of other ways to take you by force! Why do you think that I would let you Duel if I didn't need you to?" Rex laughed as if I was some kind of idiot, gesturing to the clones who stood beside him who I knew, deep down, were more than enough to take me by force.

"What does this get you?!" I repeated, my blood boiling in my veins.

"Duel Energy!" Goodwin suddenly exclaimed, throwing his arms out wide as he did so.

"… Duel Energy…?" I inquired hesitantly.

"Precisely! That is the very energy which is produced during Duels! It is what the Duel Spirits are made of! What they exude!" he explained.

"Duel Spirits?" I echoed, hoping for an explanation.

Goodwin sighed dramatically. "The monsters in your cards!" he cried out. "If I can harness that energy, your marks will become active and…" he trailed off as if expecting me to finish.

Despite not quite knowing what Duel Energy was, I still knew where he was going with the conversation. Without knowing exactly why, I felt compelled to finish the sentence. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists in anger.

"… We'll summon the Crimson Dragon…"

_5D's_

**A khakkhara (or shakujō in Japan) is a staff that was used by Buddhist monks. It was typically a large golden staff with a large ring on top from which several other rings hung (the number of which depending on the rank of the monk). The rings were used to alert small creatures to the monk's presence through the tinkling sound that they created as they moved around freely, thus ensuring that they were not stepped on as the monk travelled. It was also used in prayer, as a weapon or as a means of scaring off dangerous animals.**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Delta

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's._

_5D's_

I paused, wondering exactly how to respond to that. If I continued to Duel, I would complete his plans for him, but if I didn't, I would be locked up in a lab until they found some other way to force it. I had come this far…

I gritted my teeth and growled in anger, raising my Duel Disk. Goodwin let out a satisfied chuckle and reached up to pat the head of Alpha, the nearest clone to him, as if he was praising her very presence for my submission.

I watched as Delta, who had taken her place, took a step forwards, her Duel Disk raised. "… Duel…" she mumbled.

Seeing no other path out, I nodded. "Duel!"

(**Hikari: 1200/Delta: 4000**)

Much like her fellow clones, Delta was the first to draw a card. "My turn… I draw…" she droned. She slowly placed the card into her hand and stared down at her cards. She picked up another card and placed it on her Duel Disk. "… I Summon Armageddon Knight (**ATK: 1400 DEF: 1200**) in Attack Mode…"

A tall man with rusty armour that looked to have been a shining silver colour at one point in time stepped onto the field. A tattered red scarf was tied around his face as a makeshift mask, the rest of the scarf hanging down his back, covered slightly by his shaggy black hair. The tiny patches of his blade that weren't dulled and rusted caught the light of the marks on the ground around us, causing it to glint with a bright red colour.

The clone didn't waste any time in activating the Special Effect of her monster. "… When this card is Summoned, you can send 1 DARK monster from your Deck to the Graveyard… I send Darklord Zerato…" I watched as Delta removed her Deck and, flicking through it, she removed a card that I couldn't see from my side of the field. She let it slide into the Graveyard before slowly shuffling her Deck and placing it back in her Duel Disk.

"… I end my turn…" Delta lowered her Duel Disk as if she was relaxing while I took my turn.

(**Hikari: 1200/Delta: 4000**)

"My turn! I draw!" I drew a card and, with a quick glance at my hand, I placed the card that I had just drawn onto my Duel Disk.

"I Summon Asura Priest (**ATK: 1700 DEF: 1200**) in Attack Mode!" I called out.

The familiar blue man with six arms appeared on my side of the field, his arms and neck adorned with golden jewellery and his hair, a darker blue than his skin was tied up with red string. His crimson cape fluttered in the wind that resulted from his sudden appearance.

"Asura Priest! Attack her Armageddon Knight!" I ordered.

With a silent nod, Asura Priest leapt towards Delta's Armageddon Knight with one powerful movement. Within seconds, the monster was delivering his usual high-speed punches. With a grunt of pain, Knight of Armageddon was quickly destroyed, shattering into shards of light as Delta's Life Points dropped.

Satisfied, I lowered my Duel Disk for the time being. "I end my turn," I told her.

(**Hikari: 1200/Delta: 3700**)

"… My turn… I draw…" I watched as Delta slowly drew her card which she placed into her hand. After a few seconds, she seemed to come to a decision as she, once again, picked up the card and placed it on her Duel Disk, the Field Spell zone sliding out to allow the card access.

"… I activate Mystic Plasma Zone… Increase the ATK of all DARK monsters by 500 points and decreases their DEF by 400 points…" she muttered as the field quickly began to change.

A dark, swirling, purple-coloured cloud quickly began to spread across the field as the battlefield darkened considerably. Every so often, everything lit up as a bolt of holographic lightning struck the ground around the space where we were Duelling. Nonetheless, Delta continued.

"… I Summon Snipe Hunter (ATK: 2000 DEF: 200) in Attack Mode…" I watched with unease as the monster's Attack Points rose due to the Field Spell.

The monster in question was a small, black, imp-like creature which took to the field with an elated, demonic giggle, its piercing yellow eyes staring straight at me with a mischievous glare. Its bat-wing like ears flapped in unison with the tiny bat wings on its back in order to keep it afloat as the black-clad monster raised a small black ray gun with colourful spinning wheel that was set into the top, each differently coloured section of which boasted a different number ranged from one to six.

Delta quickly continued, activating Snipe Hunter's Effect as she discarded one card. "… You can discard 1 card, then target 1 card on the field; roll a six-sided die, and destroy that target unless you roll a 1 or 6…" she mumbled, pointing at my Asura Priest by way of giving the monster a command. Snipe Hunter immediately aimed its ray gun at Asura Priest.

I gritted my teeth, watching as the wheel on the ray gun began to spin around at a high speed. If this destroyed my Asura Priest, I would lose. Knowing that there was only a 2/6 chance of avoiding the destruction of Asura Priest, it was all I could do to cross my fingers and desperately hope. My heart skipped a beat as the wheel slowed down, finally landing on a number…

1.

I sighed in relief as a bead of sweat fell down Snipe Hunter's head, the tiny imp reaching up to rub its head in embarrassment with a nervous giggle. It turned to the Duellist who had Summoned it, somewhat expecting her to be just as amused as it was before turning back to face me, another bead of sweat running down its face as it contemplated the clone's apparent lack of humour.

Her plan foiled, Delta simply moved forwards, unable to show any frustration at having failed. "… Snipe Hunter… Attack…"

Hearing an order, the little monster suddenly brightened up considerably and aimed its ray gun at Asura Priest. I braced myself for the impact that I was certain would follow the attack as the ray gun began to spark as if it was charging up power, a beam of electricity shooting out of it afterwards. The electricity struck Asura Priest in the chest and, after letting out a scream of pain, he dropped to his knees before exploding, the shimmering remnants of his body slowly disappearing as my Life Points dropped.

"… I end my turn…" she stated, lowering her Duel Disk.

(**Hikari: 900/Delta: 3700**)

I glanced at my Life Points, noting how low they were. I couldn't afford to lose any more Life Points. If I did, I would be in trouble. Nevertheless, I still reached for my Deck and pulled a card out. "My turn! I draw!" I called out. I immediately placed the card onto my Duel Disk. "I Summon Apocatequil (**ATK: 1800 DEF: 1200**) in Attack Mode!"

I watched as the small, wooden, tiki-like monster in white robes took to the field as it had during my previous Duel, swinging its wooden, rake-like staff above its head as if warning Snipe Hunter to stay away from it. Smiling slightly at its antics, I took another card from my hand.

"I activate the Spell Card Double Attack! With this card, if I discard one Monster Card from my hand to the Graveyard, I can chose one monster with a lower Level than the card that I just discarded to attack twice this turn! I chose my Airknight Parshath!" I announced, my plan beginning to take shape.

I removed the card in question from my hand, placing the haloed, blond, pure white centaur-like monster in blue armour into my Graveyard, the wings that decorated its white armour seeming to glow despite having not been Summoned. Despite the loss of a powerful monster, I continued.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card Mystical Space Typhoon! With this card, I can destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field!" I pointed at the cloud in the sky, almost trying to make her understand my intentions through movements if she couldn't understand it through words. "I chose to destroy your Mystic Plasma Zone!"

The effect was instantaneous. The lightning suddenly ceased and the swirling clouds up above quickly began to disperse, the field becoming brighter as a result. With the Field Spell gone, Snipe Hunter's Attack and Defence Points quickly reverted to normal (**ATK: 1500 DEF: 600**).

The small imp on the other side of the field made its displeasure known with a loud sigh, not quite understanding the position that it was in. However, when it spotted my monster which was staring it down, it quickly gulped in fear as Apocatequil entered a battle stance, intimidating the imp. I gestured towards Snipe Hunter.

"Apocatequil! Attack Snipe Hunter!" I ordered.

With a nod, my tiki-like monster sprang forwards, swinging its wooden, rake-like staff above its head at a high speed as it neared Snipe Hunter. However, instead of attacking it with some kind of flashy move, it simply brought the staff down on the head of the imp which let out a yelp of pain before disintegrating into shards of light before disappearing.

I continued, taking a card from my hand and placing it in the Spell and Trap Card zone. "I place one card face-down! I end my turn!"

(**Hikari: 900/Delta: 1600**)

As my new face-down card appeared on the field, Delta slowly raised her Duel Disk again. "… My turn… I draw…" She drew her card before placing it in her hand. After staring long and hard at her cards, she eventually picked up the one that she had just drawn. "… I activate Monster Reborn… Target 1 monster in either player's Graveyard; Special Summon it… I Summon Darklord Zerato (**ATK: 2800 DEF: 2300**) in Attack Mode…"

A giant grey-skinned man took to the field, his red cape pointing into the air in the shape of bat wings. A purple scarf was wrapped around his face like a mask, its torn, ragged ends fluttering in the wind that had resulted from his Summoning. He wore red, spiked armour around his wrists, his boots made of identical material and in a similar style.

A torn, ragged loin cloth was tied around his waist which melded into its skin, a purple jewel embedded in it. A red helmet with purple horns sat upon his head, his glowing yellow eyes peering out at my monster. A large, curved blade with a purple handle that was serrated on one side glinted with an eerie red light, the light of the markings on the floor reflecting off of the heavily polished blade. It pointed its blade at Apocatequil, its eyes narrowing beneath its helmet.

I gritted my teeth. This wasn't good. Its Attack Points were far too high. If I took an attack from that, I would lose instantaneously. Slowly, I took note of the situation, remembering the Trap Card on my side of the field. All would be OK if Delta didn't have a counter that she could use or, perhaps, like one of the other clones, she would simply be too unintelligent to use it. Nevertheless, she continued on, not giving me much of a chance to consider my options.

"… Darklord Zerato… Attack…" Delta pointed towards my Apocatequil and Darklord Zerato, its orders having been given, immediately burst into action, raising his massive sword above his head with one hand, the curved edge facing my Apocatequil. I reacted, internally praying that Delta would not counter my next move. If all went well, victory was mine, but if she countered, I would lose. I gulped and gestured towards my face-down trap card.

"Hold it! I activate my Trap Card, Sakuretsu Armour!" The card flipped face-up and I continued on. "This was triggered when you attacked by monster! Now, I can destroy your attacking monster!"

I watched as a suit of demonic-looking armour slowly emerged from my Trap Card and floated in front of my Apocatequil as if it wished to protect my monster from the oncoming blade. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes, half expecting to hear the sound of a card activating but, instead, I was greeted to the welcoming sound of a sword striking off an electrically charged barrier of sorts. Opening my eyes apprehensively, I watched with relief as the electricity from the barrier that had formed around my Sakuretsu Armour quickly shot up the blade and electrocuted the giant. With a scream, he shattered into particles of light and my victory was almost assured.

"… I end my turn…" Delta finally stated as she lowered her Duel Disk.

(**Hikari: 900/Delta: 1600**)

"My turn! I draw!" I didn't bother to look at the card that I had just drawn and moved straight into my next move. "Apocatequil! Attack her directly!"

I watched with a sigh of relief as Apocatequil launched forwards and, its rake-like staff swinging above its head at a high speed, the wooden, tiki-like monster whacked Delta over the head with its weapon, knocking her to the ground as her Life Points plummeted.

(**Hikari: 900/Delta: 0**)

Pain instantly exploded through my arm. I dropped to my knees, grunting in pain as the false mark on my arm glowed with a harsh red light, matching the marks on the ground. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see the marks of the clones glowing in the same manner, although none of them showed any signs of pain.

The ground began to rumble. Were Rex's plans completed? Had my winning this Duel placed the Crimson Dragon in his hands? What would he do with it if I had? Just as I had begun to regret going along with his plans, the rumbling stopped, our marks ceased to glow and I quickly found myself on the ground, my vision going dark…

_(Rex's P.O.V.)_

I gritted my teeth in annoyance. My plan… The plan that I had worked so hard to put in place… The plan that I had broken so many laws for in order to realise my dream… My plan… _had failed…_ This was going to be harder than I thought.

I glanced over at the clone on the ground. The clone with a mind. I had never seen the likes of it before. Nevertheless, she had too many people who cared about her. If I was to take her back, she would certainly be missed. I smiled to myself.

"Your usefulness has ended… I can't have anyone notice that you're missing, either… Least of all, I can't have _him_ find out…" I frowned to myself at the thought of that man. If he found out that it was me all along, as I'm sure he would, he would have my head. I laughed to myself. "… Where would my plans be, then…?" I turned towards the temple. "Guards!" I barked. It wasn't long before two men in black emerged from the darkness that surrounded us, their eyes covered by dark glasses and their black hair cropped short. They stood to attention.

"Yes, Director Goodwin!" they chorused, their voices deep.

"Return her to the stadium infirmary. I can't have anyone notice that she's gone," I ordered.

Without another word, the guards immediately hurried forwards and, with one swift tug, the unconscious clone was dragged to her feet and held up by her arms, her head falling forwards. With a quick nod of respect, the guards hurried off, dragging 'Hikari' roughly behind them.

With a disappointed sigh, I began to walk off, the clones walking behind me, their movements almost robotic in nature. _'Maybe I could find something useful for them,'_ I thought as I looked back at them. Shrugging, I continued to walk towards the exit…

_Later…_

_(Kuroe's P.O.V.)_

"Do we have to do it this way, sir…?" I asked the man beside me, my voice quiet and hesitant.

The man – Sayer – turned to face me, raising his black gloved hand to push his large brown fringe out of his face with a smirk. Reaching down, he tightened his white tie which sat underneath a green vest which covered his black, long sleeve shirt.

"We can't wait any longer," Sayer told me bluntly.

"But, sir… I know her… She won't comply like this…" I trailed off as Sayer glanced at me, pausing in the stadium hallway.

"You make a valid point. As her brother, it's only right that you would know all about her behaviour and personality…" He paused before sighing. "You're right. She won't come of her own free will."

I sighed, happy that he understood. "Thank you for understanding, sir…"

Sayer chuckled. "No. Thank _you_, Kuroe, for making me understand."

"Understand what?" I inquired hesitantly, watching as Sayer turned to me with a smirk.

"She won't come of her own free will. In that case, there's only one option," he told me, his tone blunt and offering no room for argument.

"But, sir…! That method is too extreme…! It's too dangerous…!" I complained, attempting to find another way of carrying out the operation.

"Is this not an extreme situation?" He turned to the four Arcadia Movement members who trailed along behind us. Their white long sleeve shirts were covered by long black robes with high collars, gold trimmings and a long pink patch down the front and back. They all stood to attention.

"Yes, sir!" they chorused, awaiting their orders.

"Find the girl and bring her to the Arcadia Movement through any means necessary," he ordered.

I felt my heart sink. The order had been given. There was no talking Sayer out of it, now. Surely, though, he understood the dangers of this…! There were too many things that could go wrong…! Nevertheless, I hung my head and watched as the other Arcadia Movement members marched off to do their duty…

_Later…_

(? P.O.V.)

I stared at the young woman on the bed before me, the machine that surrounded her doing its job while she remained unconscious, blissfully unaware of what we were doing to her. I turned back to the monitor to check her brainwaves, sighing in content as I saw that they were remaining stable. Sayer stood next to me, a file in his hands. He looked down at me.

"This file that you hacked for us is fascinating…" he smiled. "Good work. So this is her real name…" he trailed off, his eyes falling on something else. "The amount of money that went into creating this girl… I'm surprised that there hasn't been a scandal with so much money unaccounted for!"

"I couldn't find anything that would reveal that any money had been spent, sir. In other words, the files that would state that money has gone missing have all been tampered with. That file came from the computers at the lab. No reporter could hack into there. That's why everyone has remained blissfully unaware, sir," I stated bluntly as I tapped a few keys on my keyboard, briefly reaching up to push my glasses up my freckled nose and push my light brown hair out of the way, silently cursing the high collar of my uniform as it got in the way of my work.

"Ah…" Sayer, having been enlightened about the situation, quickly turned back to his file. "How is the brainwashing going?" he suddenly asked.

"All is normal, sir. It's proceeding as planned. In fact, she should wake up at any minute," I informed him.

I jumped slightly as he slammed the file down on the table. "Magnificent!" he exclaimed. "Everything is proceeding nicely…"

Just then, I turned as the girl behind me uttered a groan as she began to regain consciousness. I immediately turned my swivel chair around and crossed the dark room, the light of the monitors guiding me to my destination. Ignoring the beeps and whirs of the machines that surrounded us, I picked up the light by the side of the bed and shone it into her eyes, checking to see that everything was in order.

"… Ugh… Where am I…?" she asked weakly, attempting to sit up.

Sayer quickly approached us. "… This is the Arcadia Movement… You're safe here…" he told her in a soft, kind voice. She sat there with a confused expression, a question obviously on her mind. "Is something wrong…?" he inquired.

"… Who am I…?" she frowned, her voice quiet.

Sayer smiled softly, his face immediately seeming much kinder. "Your name… is Epsilon…"

_5D's_

**First of all, I'd like to thank everybody for sticking with me this far, especially when I once considered this story to be a lost cause. Your reviews really picked me up and encouraged me to keep writing. Thank you so much!**

**Next, I am going to take this opportunity to inform you that this is not the end. I'm pleased to announce that I am working on a sequel – Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Reverse of Arcadia. This is when the story really kicks off and the question that's burning in your minds will (most likely) be answered – what's Jaden got to do with all of this?! (He's vital to the plot… Trust me on this one…)**

**Please don't expect it to stick too closely to the game as it will branch out further than Stardust Accelerator has. Nonetheless, I would be so happy if you would all please give my new story a chance and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing stories for you all.**

**Please keep reviewing and thank you so much for joining me while I wrote this.**

**~ EagleTsubasa**


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